


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (The Hunters, the Witch and the End of the World)

by MarsCosta



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels, Bisexual Female Character, Casual Sex, Demons, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Hunters & Hunting, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Magical Tattoos, Monsters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recreational Drug Use, Sex, Smut, Spells & Enchantments, Witch - Freeform, Witch Curses, Witchcraft, set in season 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27351847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsCosta/pseuds/MarsCosta
Summary: When the witch Andrea meets the Winchester, she doesn't like them. First of all, they're hunters. Secondly, they're idiots. Last but not least, she's sure they'd either end up killing her or getting her killed. However, she's no other choice. They're her last hope if she wants to survive Lilith and the apocalypse. With all, the last thing on her mind should be getting involved with a hunter, right?
Relationships: Dean Winchester/OFC, Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 20





	1. I'm not like the other witches you've met

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first Supernatural Fanfic. (This is also being posted on Fanfiction.net)  
> As of now, this work is unbeta-ed, so apologies for any mistakes.  
> I hope y'all like it. x

* * *

_"_ _You can run but you can't escape!"_ The demon sing-sang, taunting her from behind the door. _"Come on, little witch, it'll hurt less if you open this door and come with us."_

Its last words made her snort as she looked down at the window, her only way out. Opening the door would undoubtedly hurt less, but it would mean becoming nothing more than a slave to the demon bitch who destroyed her life. 

Knowing her spell would not hold the door for long, she looked down again, and taking a deep breath, she jumped. 

\--

Sam and Dean had just finished up the Oktoberfest case and were ready to spend the next day or two at Bobby's. They both needed the time off after spending over a month hunting non-stop. Bobby had just finished a case himself and met up with them on the road. As they were arriving in front of the house, both cars came to an abrupt stop. 

A woman was sitting on Bobby's porch. The hunters got out of their cars, Dean's hand already on the gun he always has on his waistband. Never hurt to be careful these days, especially with demons and angels running around. 

"Who are you?" He demanded harshly. 

As she looked up, the three hunters noticed the weary and tired expression on her. 

"Name's Andrea. Nice to meet you too, hunter." She paused, eyes watching as his hand moved behind his back. "You won't need that." She said somewhat tiredly. "I'm not a demon and I’m not a monster. I'm here because I need your help." Bobby stepped forward, albeit unsure. 

"How can we help ya?" 

"You know that big bad demon you guys are hunting? Lilith? She's after me." She was about to continue when Dean interrupted her.

"What does she want with you?" 

"Does it matter? I need help. You hunters help people in need. Isn't that right?" He shakes his head. 

"Doesn't work like that, sweetheart. You want help, it's on our terms. Our terms are, you tell us why Lilith wants you, and then we go from there." 

Before she could answer, Bobby, who had been studying her quietly, took another step closer. "You're a witch." 

His words aren't a question and the boys immediately grabbed their guns. However, even at gunpoint, she doesn't move or change her calm expression. 

"Points to you, gramps. How did you know?" Bobby raised a brow at her, impressed with her calm demeanor. 

"Yer tattoo. I saw it before, somewhere." The older hunter continued. The intricate symbols and lines in her left hand that started at her fingertips and covered the back of her hand, stopping at her wrist, looked different and ancient, looking like those henna tattoos from traditional Indian weddings. "Why would a witch need our help?" 

"What he means, is why shouldn't we shoot you right now?" Dean demanded loudly, his gun ready. Andrea just rolled her eyes. 

"I'm not like the witches you've met before, hunter." She fired back at him, her temper starting to boil. 

"Oh really? You look just like them. Lemme guess, you made a deal for your magic with some low-level demon, but the deal got bumped up to the higher ranks. Now, Lilith wants to collect what's hers, and you need our help getting out of it. Sorry to inform you, sweetheart, but no. We can't help."

"You think I wanted this?" She half yells, gesturing to herself. "I'm not a borrower, and I'm not you, you moron! I would never set foot in a crossroad!" 

Before the argument could escalate, Sam put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Dean. Let's hear her out." 

Bobby had been trying to remember where he had seen those symbols before, and when he does, he doesn't believe it. "I thought your... kind was extinct." Andrea smiles at him bitterly. 

"Almost. I'm the last one. That's why Lilith is after me." Dean looks between Bobby and the witch, but it's Sam who voices the question. 

"Bobby? What are you talking about?" Sam questions.

"She's a soul witch." The older hunter replies in a matter of fact tone. 

"A soul witch? What the hell is that?" Dean demands in an unfriendly tone.

"In a few words, a regular witch gets power, energy from demons to do magic. A soul witch's magic is inherited, like, genetically, and they draw the power from their own soul." Bobby starts, and again, the old man impresses her. "They were the most powerful witches a few centuries ago before other witches and demons began to hunt them down." Bobby starts, and again, the old man impresses her. 

"What does that mean?" The taller hunter, who had already put his gun away, asked. 

There’s a lot she could say regarding what this meant to her, but Andrea decides to spare any gore details. “It means I'm powerful enough to do a lot of things. Break seals, for example." As realization dawns on their faces, she continued. "That's why I need help. Look, the last thing I want is to be used as a magic wand for that evil bitch. Then, I heard two idiots, the Winchester brothers, were hunting Lilith down. Sounded crazy, but I don't really have a choice." She paused, taking a breath. "Please. I've been running and hiding for almost a year. I'm tired of working on defense. So, I want in. You help me, I help you." 

Finally, Dean put his gun back in his jeans but kept the serious look on his face as he looked at her. 

"How? How can a witch help us?" 

"Well, for starters, I can make your work easier. Protection spells, traps, research. You name it." The three hunters looked at her again. "And… I'm also working on a few, uh, let’s say things, that could kill the bitch."

"Can you give us a moment?" The tallest of them asked with a nice tone. 

"Of course." They waited for her to move, but when she didn't, they moved away from the porch. 

"Is she telling the truth, Bobby?" Sam asks, a look on his eyes that says he’s interested. 

Bobby looked at the woman for a moment, thinking before continuing. "There ain't that much lore on her kind tough, but from what I read, yeah, she seems to be telling the truth." 

Immediately knowing what his brother is thinking, Dean groaned. "Come on! You can't be really considering this, Sam! She's a witch! We are hunters! We have bigger fish to fry. Let's just put her out of her misery and go on our merry way to the end of the world, alright?" 

"Dean, it doesn't matter who she is or what she does. If she can help us get Lilith, hell, if she can help us kill Lilith, we cannot waste this opportunity. We need all the help we can get!" 

Unconvinced, and not believing his brother's words, Dean shakes his head. _"_ Is this how it's gonna be, Sam? First a demon, now a witch, and then what? Ghosts? Werewolves? What’s next? You finding a way to make a Wendigo useful?"

"Nice one, Dean," Sam said rolling his eyes. "What I'm saying is, if she's as powerful as Bobby said, she can give us the edge we're missing! We’re talking about heaven and hell, here. The devil himself could break free. Wouldn’t hurt to have someone else on our side.” 

Dean studied his brother, still unconvinced. “I thought Ruby was already that edge we needed on our team.” He provoked, not hiding his hatred for the demon. 

“What do you prefer? Trusting a demon or a witch?” 

“Neither, Sam! Alright? Neither!” He exclaimed. In his head, he hunted demons and witches. He didn’t form a partnership with them.

“These are strange tides, Dean. Maybe we need new ways to navigate them. And even if she can't help us, Lilith is after her. Do you really think we should just kick her out and tell her to leave us the hell alone?" 

As usual, the younger Winchester had a way with words and Dean ended up agreeing. "You know what? Fine. But there's going to be a witch killing bullet on my gun at all times. No matter what you say, I don't trust her." With that, he walks inside the house alone. 

Bobby, who had been watching the brothers argue in silence, watches the witch from the corner of his eye, and he sees when she makes a pained face upon moving. "Did you see that?" He asks Sam.

"Yeah, lemme go talk to her."

While they talked, Andrea allowed herself to breathe and relax from the stiff and strong posture she sustained while talking to the hunters. A moment later as she moved, a sharp pain shot up in her ribs and she groaned. The last of her spell fading. 

"Hey, are you okay?" When she looked up, the tallest of the brothers was in front of her, the older hunter just behind him, and his brother nowhere to be seen. 

"It's just my ribs. I'll be fine." She said not wanting to show any kind of weakness.

"Why don't we get inside, so we can take a look and be sure it's nothing serious?" Sam asked, offering a small smile. 

Inside the house, checking her side, Bobby tells Andrea her ribs are badly bruised. "How did you get this?"

"Demons found me the other night. One of them had a mean right hook. I had to jump from the first floor to get away, and then I drove straight here." 

"Well, it's a wonder you got this far," Bobby states, eyeing her black and blue midsection. Andrea doesn't tell them about the spell she used to mask her pain, wanting to create some sort of common ground with these hunters before enhancing their differences. 

"I guess it was adrenalin. But don't worry. I'll be fine. I just need some rest." They don't say anything and soon after giving her some painkillers, they leave her alone, to go talk in hushed tones in the kitchen. She didn’t mind they're talking about her, as long as they didn't send her away. If she had to go, she would have to resort to her last option, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Later that night, Andrea doesn't refuse the offer to stay at the hunter's house. Not only did it save her the trouble of having to find herself a motel room, but it also gave her a modicum of security. At least she wasn't alone. 

"The other guest room is filled with archives and such, so for tonight, all I can offer you is my couch," Bobby told her with a small smile, as he gave her a pillow and a blanket. 

"The couch is great, Mr. Singer." Her words make him shake his head.

"Knock it off with the Mr., a'right? It's Bobby." 

"Thank you, Bobby." She repeated, taking the blankets he handed her. 

"Dean, you and Sam can share the--"

"I'll have the floor, Bobby," Dean said from where he was sitting, cutting him off. Knowing better than to try and dissuade him, Bobby just rolled his eyes and went to sleep. 

Once Sam and Bobby were gone, Dean and Andrea were alone in the living room. He watched as she tried to get comfortable on the couch, head spinning with the idea of sleeping with a witch in the same room. Finally, he grabbed his gun. 

“Yo, witch.” He called, and when she turned around to look at him, he continued. "You may have convinced my brother and Bobby, but you can't fool me. You even think about doing anything to any of us, you'll be dead before you can blink. Are we clear?" 

Andrea watched him in silence, raising her hands slowly. "Crystal." 

When she turns around again, she can feel his eyes on her. She ignores it and tries not to mind his words much, trying to play it cool, even though she knows there's a gun within his reach with a bullet or two meant for her.

In the middle of the night, she wakes up to strange noises. Whimpers and groans coming from the sleeping hunter. Opening her eyes, with the light of the moon coming inside from the window, she sees how tense his body is as he tosses restlessly. His face scrunches up as if he's in pain. He's having a nightmare, and whatever he's seeing in the realm of dreams it's haunting him. Knowing she can't help him, not right now, not without his permission, Andrea looks away and tries her best to go back to sleep.

* * *


	2. A witch appeared and I got to be her bunkmate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, I'm just playing in their sandbox.

* * *

Andrea woke up before the sun was up. She hadn’t slept very well, between Dean’s threats, the sounds he made all night in his sleep, and the pain in her ribs. It was clear that he was being plagued by nightmares, and she could only imagine what someone who had been to Hell saw when he closed his eyes. As she slowly stretched, trying not to put too much stress on her ribs, the old couch let out a strangled noise that promptly startled Dean awake, and he instantly grabbed his gun as a reflex. 

Again, she raised her hands. “Easy, tiger. I’m just getting up.” His eyes moved to the window, and then to the clock on the farthest wall. 

“It’s 5:47 in the morning,” Dean grumbled. “Where the hell are you going?” He demanded, and she rolled her eyes. 

“I do yoga every morning. Would you like to tag along?” Sarcasm was dripping from her words, and when his posture relaxed just a little, she continued, pointedly looking at the gun. “Do you mind?” 

As he lowered the gun, she got up and quickly moved past him. He mumbled something she could understand, putting the gun away and going back to sleep. Weird man, that one.

Outside, after changing into her work-out clothes, Andrea followed her daily ritual of thanking Mother Earth as the Sun came up. There was nothing quite as simple and powerful at the same time, as the energy that filled the Earth during the sunrise. Her practice wasn’t as hard as always due to her ribs, but just as effective.

When she finally got back inside, almost two hours later, everyone was up and awake. Bobby was cleaning a gun in the living room, and the Winchester brothers were arguing in the kitchen. 

“A case?” She heard Sam ask. “I thought we’d agreed we needed a break.” 

“We did, but then a witch appeared and I got to be her bunkmate,” Dean replied, and Andrea knew he hadn’t heard her come inside. She looked at Bobby, but he just shrugged, shaking his head. 

“We talked about this. You agreed we could use her help.” The younger Winchester shot back. 

“You talked, I listened. And now I need to think. Hence, a case. We can deal with her and anything else after I’ve had a normal case. Remember those? Without demonic and witchy sidekicks? I have to think. And I can’t think with her around.”

With that, Andrea stepped inside the kitchen, making herself seen. “I never intended to disturb you and your thought process.” She joked, even though her mind was starting to worry about the Winchesters turning her down for good. “I’ll get out of your hair. After you consider everything, let me know. This is my number.” 

Grabbing her backpack, Andrea thanked Bobby for letting her stay the night and left. 

Once in a motel, she made sure to ward the room against demons and threw in a barrier spell, just in case something non-demonic came after her. She was still a woman alone in a motel room, after all. Satisfied, Andrea started making alternative plans. If the Winchesters told her no, she would have a dark path ahead of her. Not how she wanted or imagined her life would be, but she’d learned a long time ago that life was never the way one pictured. 

_Two days later..._

Andrea was in the middle of a Dr. Sexy episode when her cellphone rang. Taking the device, she took a deep breath. _It was now or never._

"Hello?" 

_"Andrea?"_ Bobby asked in a hurried voice. _"You still wanna help those idjits?"_ Her reply was instant.

"Of course." 

_"Great. Two questions for you, then. What do you know about ghost sickness and how fast can you get here?"_

  
  


Sam had been waiting for about half an hour on the side of the road when he finally saw a car driving up. As usual, Bobby was a sight for sore eyes. 

"Howdy, Sam."

"Hey, Bobby. Thanks for coming so quickly." The older hunter nodded.

"Where's Dean?" He thinks about his brother for a second, before deciding to give a simple answer.

"Uh, homesick." He was about to say something else when a motorcycle was heard, appearing on the road a moment later. 

"I brought in some help. I hope you don't mind." Bobby explained as the bike parked beside his car, and Andrea took off her helmet. 

"Hello, Sam." She said quietly.

"Andrea. Thanks for coming too." She nodded at his words, a shadow of a polite smile on her lips. 

"How's Dean? Have his hallucinations started yet?" She asked, imagining that was the reason why the other hunter wasn't here with them.

"Yeah, a few hours ago." 

Bobby shook his head, looking at his watch. "How we doing on time?" 

"We saw the coroner at about 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, so, uh...just under two hours. What about you? You find anything?" 

"Yeah. Andrea helped me find this, uh, encyclopedia of spirits. It dates to the Edo period." Sam took the book, a surprising look appearing on his face.

"You can read Japanese?" To answer his question, Bobby speaks something in Japanese. "Guess so, show-off."

"Anyway," Bobby continues. "This book lists a kind of ghost that could be our guy. It infects people with fear."

"It's called a Buruburu." Andrea completes. 

Sam looks at the two of them, one single question in his mind. "Does it say how to kill it?"

"Same as usual. Burn the remains." The younger Winchester was worried this would be Bobby's answer because there were no remains to be burned. Luther Garland had been dragged all over a road, leaving practically nothing behind. 

"Wonderful. Uh,... is there a plan B?" Bobby looks at Andrea for a moment and she replies to Sam's question. 

"Well, the Buruburu is born of fear. Hell, it is fear. The lore says we can kill it with fear." 

"So we have to scare a ghost to death?" 

Putting that way, it sounded impossible, so she just shrugged. She was a witch after all. Not a hunter. 

"Pretty much," Bobby replied, doubting the whole thing himself. 

"How the hell we gonna do that?" Again, at that, the older hunter looked at Andrea. 

"I have an idea, Sam." She says, stepping forward. "But it's a crazy one." 

"Well, hit me with it." 

After hearing her out, Sam called Dean to check-in on him while Bobby and Andrea worked on the details of the plan. His brother didn't sound too hot, so he hoped this plan worked. After all, he wasn't about to lose Dean again. 

Some minutes later, Andrea found Sam inside the lumber mill, trying to make Luther's ghost appear like the last time. "Any luck?" 

"I don't know what's wrong. Last time he came right at us. It's almost like he's, uh… like he's scared." 

"So now what?" Bobby asks, lowering his shotgun. 

"I can summon him," Andrea offers. "But I'll need some time to draw a circle and prep the spell." 

Sam looks at his watch. "We don't have that kinda time. I guess I got to make him angry. You should wait outside." 

They leave just as Sam begins to taunt Luther, by tearing up his drawings. 

Outside, Andrea is nervous. Ghosts were nothing new to her, but hunting was, and other than demons, she had never had any trouble with other supernatural beings. However, she knew that this was a part of being around hunters, so she was set on helping them, or at least, set on not standing in their way. 

“You comin’?” Bobby asks as he opens the door of the Impala. She ran the small distance to the car and got in the passenger’s side. 

Everything happened very fast. It only took a minute or so for Sam to scream “Bobby, punch it!” She felt the surge of dark energy on the air for a moment, and then Bobby was flooring the Impala and speeding down the road. Just as it had come, the energy dissipated. 

“He’s gone, Bobby.” The hunter stared at her for a second, but nodded, not making any questions. 

A few hours later, they were some miles outside the town. Sam had just arrived with Dean, and so far the older hunter hadn’t said anything to her. Bobby had gotten them beers, and although it wasn’t her favorite drink, she’d accepted it, thankful. 

“So you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?” The older brother finally asked. 

Sam agreed with his head. “Iron chain etched with spell work, courtesy of Andrea.” Dean studied her for a long moment, taking a sip of his beer before speaking. 

“Hmm, that’s a new one.” He paused, eyeing her again.

“It was what he was most afraid of. It was pretty brutal, though.” Sam completed, and Andrea felt a chill thinking about the excruciating death Luther had had, without any reason. No wonder he had turned into an angry spirit, bent on getting revenge. 

“On the upside, I’m alive, so uh, go team!” Dean replied with some faux enthusiasm. Again, he looked at her. “I guess I owe you a thank you.” He paused, raising his beer in her direction. “So, thank you.” 

“You’re welcome, Dean.” It was the first time she called him by his name other than just him “hunter” as she’d done so far.

“Yeah. How are you feeling, by the way, Dean?” Sam asked, not commenting on him thanking Andrea. 

“Fine.” 

Bobby narrowed his eyes as if analyzing him. “You sure, Dean? ‘Cause this line of work can get awful scary.” He teased. 

“I’m fine! Do you want to go hunting? I’ll hunt. I’ll kill anything.” Dean shot back. 

“Awww, he’s adorable.” He joked, and they all laughed. “I got to get out of here.” Bobby turned around and looked at her. “You coming?” 

“Ye--” She was about to reply when Dean cut her off. 

“You should stay.” Andrea turned to look at him, surprise on her face. 

“What?” 

“You should come with us. I mean, an iron chain with spell work? That was… great. Things like that could make our job easier. That is if you have more of that stuff on your sleeve.” 

Andrea briefly looked at Bobby, a silent question on her face. When he nodded, she looked at Dean. “I’ve got plenty on my sleeve, Dean.” 

“Guess that is settled. You boys drive safe. You too, Andrea.” 

She and Sam thanked him, and once he drove off, the three of them stood there, unsure of what to do. 

“How do we do this?” Sam asked, breaking the awkward silence. 

Andrea had thought about that while at the motel by herself. “I’ll follow you two around on my bike. And when you need help, I’m there. Sounds good?” 

The brothers exchanged a look, a silent conversation happening at that moment. Finally, Dean agreed. “Sounds good.”

“I’m just going to check my bike, and I’m ready to go whenever you two are.” She walked away to her bike, making sure everything was in place. The boys talked for a couple of minutes, and then, as Sam got in the car, Dean waved to her. She nodded, and put her helmet on, she climbed on her bike, and followed the Impala, not imagining how her life was going to change because of that choice.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins...  
> The next chapter will be up later this week. Thanks for reading!


	3. Let's just say I don’t play well with others

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comment!  
> Hope you'll like this chapter.

* * *

After driving for almost a day, the Winchesters stop at a roadside diner, to take a break and eat something. Initially, Andrea wasn’t sure if she should tag along. But after coming out of the restroom, Sam waves to her from the table they’d gotten, and she has no other choice but to buy herself a coffee and join them. Seeing the diner was pretty much empty at that time, she grabs a chair, setting it in the middle of the corridor, instead of having to sit side by side with one of them - no need to make things weirder, she thinks, still not sure of what to do around the two hunters. 

Dean’s reading a newspaper, and Sam seems to be texting. She’s about to grab her own phone when the older Winchester speaks. “Check this out,” he says, folding and pushing the paper to Sam. “Guy named Luke Wallace died after eating some store-bought candy, and guess what they found? He’d swallowed four razor blades.”

Sam takes the newspaper, and after reading, he nods. “Sounds like our kind of thing.” 

“It’s only a few hours from here, so eat up, and let’s hit the road.” 

When they finally get to the small towns’ only motel, three hours later, Andrea’s thankful to see a bed. She had checked into a room of her own, and after putting up her protection spells, she took a shower and went straight to bed. 

In the morning, after her yoga, Andrea tries to keep herself busy, which isn’t so easy, seeing as daytime tv sucked and she has nothing better to do. When Sam knocked on her door, later in the morning, she was more than happy to grab her things and follow him to their room. 

“So, how can I help?” She asks, once inside. 

“We just found this, at Luke Wallace’s,” Dean replies, putting a hex bag on the table. “It was inside the oven.” 

Andrea tries to fight back the urge to groan. “The universe has some twisted sense of humor,” she complains. “My first _job_ with two hunters, and it has to be witches?” 

Dean and Sam stared at each other for a moment. “Is that a problem?” Dean asks, some unfriendly hint in his tone. 

“Let's just say I don’t play well with others,” She replies cryptically, taking the hex bag in her hands. Andrea closes her eyes for a moment, and upon sensing some remains of the magic that had once been summoned with this, she sets it back on the table, and opens the hex bag, analyzing its contents. The dried flower looks familiar, but she can’t exactly place where she saw it before. She sets her bag on the table, taking her things out. 

Behind her, Sam’s watching her movements. Andrea sets a laptop and a leather-covered book that looks old and somewhat imposing. She takes the book, and starts going over the pages that he notices to be handwritten, and filled with symbols and drawings. When she seems to find what she’s looking for, she reads it before letting out a low whistle. 

“Anything you’d like to share with the class?” Dean asks from her side, annoyed and anxious. 

“You guys are hunting a witch, that’s for sure, but this isn’t any hex bag. This,” she says, picking up the dried flower. “Is Goldthread, an herb that has been extinct for at least 200 years," next, she takes the silver piece in her hands. "This is Celtic. I recognize the symbols from druid magic I studied some time ago, and I don't think this is a fake." 

Sam takes the piece from her hand, analyzing it for a moment before nodding. "It looks like the real deal, like 600 years old real." 

Dean takes the small charred thing from the remains of the hex bag, smelling it. 

"And, uh… that's the charred metacarpal bone of a newborn baby." 

Immediately he puts the bone down, a disgusted look on his face. 

"Relax man," Sam says, picking it up. "It's like at least a hundred years old." 

Dean shakes his head. "Oh, right, like that makes it better? Witches, man. They're so friggin' skeevy." 

Andrea crosses her arms, an annoyed look on her face. "Oh, why, thank you for the compliment, hunter." Her nice tone is as always sarcastic. "Anyways, what you should know is that it takes a pretty powerful witch to cook up a hex bag like this. When I touched it, I could still feel some of its energy, and this is some heavy black magic." She pauses, putting the contents back over the leather. "You two know something about the hexed?" 

Dean turns to look at her, something unreadable in his eyes. "You mean the _victim_?" He corrects, but before she can say anything he continues. "Luke Wallace? He was so vanilla that he made vanilla seem spicy. I can't find any reason why somebody would want his guy dead." 

"I'll carry on with the research, maybe I'll be able to tell you more soon.” 

Not very interested in witchy business, Dean goes over to the bed. Sam, ever the student, stood there. “Is that your grimoire?” He asks, reaching for the leather book. The moment his fingers touch the page, however, the writings and drawings disappear, leaving only blank pages. Turning to Andrea, he sees a knowing smile on her face. 

“It’s my family’s grimoire,” she said. “And it’s protected by a spell.” Andrea put her palm over the page, and it was as if the book sighed as the writings became visible again. 

“Sorry,” He mumbles. 

“No need to apologize.” She tells him with a smile. 

“Want some help?” Sam asks, pulling up a chair. 

“Sure.”

Initially, Andrea had been sure another pair of eyes would help speed things along, but as the hours dragged into the afternoon and finally into the night, she and Sam haven’t made much progress. She’s about to give up when Dean's phone rang. He only replies a few words before hanging up and turning to Sam. 

"We've got another victim." The younger Winchester doesn’t say anything, just got up, grabbed his suit jacket, and walked to the door. 

"I'm gonna start the car," Sam says as his brother puts on his suit jacket. Then, Dean walks towards the door, but stops, turning to look at her. 

"I thought you, being such a powerful witch and all, would have found something by now." His tone was almost neutral and his face was calm, but somehow, that only made things worse for Andrea. “One of your pals is killing innocent people. If you can’t stop them, maybe you should just leave.” 

As he walked out, she sat there, his words bothering her more than she could express. 

About one hour or so later, she gets a text from Sam, telling her that they had another hex bag. Instantly Andrea knows she must find something, anything that can help the brothers find whoever is behind this. So far, it seems like there’s more to these deaths than just a usual witch killing humans for power, so she grabs her grimoire, and closing her eyes, she allows her magic to flow and connect to the magic coming off in waves from the old pages, and with some concentration, the paper begins to move and turn until finally it stops on a page titled "Human Sacrifices", and she starts reading. 

When Sam and Dean get back hours later, well into the night, they find Andrea still on the hard, uncomfortable chair reading. On the table were not only her grimoire and her computer, but also some scattered notes and writing material. They don’t say much before joining her, Dean on his own research and Sam back to the table, also reading. 

"I'm telling you, both these victims are squeaky clean. There is no reason for a wicked bitch payback." Dean complains, knowing that right now, they have nothing and are nowhere near finding the witch.

A couple of hours later, Andrea startles both hunters when she hits her hand on the table all of a sudden. "It's not random! These deaths are not random grudges. This witch is working a spell. Here, check this out." She turns her laptop to Sam, and he reads it out loud. 

"Three blood sacrifices over three days, the last before midnight on the final day of the final harvest. Celtic Calendar, the final day of the final harvest is October 31st." 

Dean gets up, walking to stand by his brother, and look at the computer. 

"Halloween," he says after reading. 

Sam agrees. "Exactly." 

"What exactly are the, uh, blood sacrifices for?" Dean asks, this time, looking straight at Andrea. 

"Well, if I'm right, this witch is summoning someone. Samhain." She says with an ominous voice.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Dean asks after the tone she'd used. 

"Dean, Samhain is the damn origin of Halloween," Sam explains. "The Celts believe that October 31st was the one night of the year when the veil was the thinnest between the living and the dead, and it was Samhain's night. I mean, masks were put on to hide from him, sweets left on doorsteps to appease him, faces carved into pumpkins to worship him. He was exorcised centuries ago." 

"The tradition remained. Only now instead of demons and blood orgies, Halloween is all about kids, candy, and costumes."

Dean doesn't blink at her words, and ignoring her, he turns to his brother. "Okay, so some witch wants to raise Samhain and take back the night?" 

The mockery is evident in his voice, and Andrea rolls her eyes. 

"Dean, this is serious," Sam tells him, sounding annoyed. 

"I am serious," his brother replies defensively.

"If Andrea is right--"

"I am right," she mutters from her seat. 

"We're talking heavyweight witchcraft," Sam continues. "This ritual can only be performed every six hundred years."

"And the six hundred year marker rolls around…?" Dean trails off as if already expecting what his brother is going to say. 

"Tomorrow night,"

Dean runs a hand through his face. "Naturally," He says, taking a step forward to the table. Looking down at the computer, he rolls the page down, stopping on an illustration that shows a demon on a heap of bodies holding a head in his hand. "Well, it sure is a lot of death and destruction for one demon," 

"That's because he won't be alone for long," Andrea finally speaks. "Once he's raised, Samhain can do some raising of his own." She had read all about the destruction this son of a bitch could do. 

"Raising what, exactly?" The older Winchester asks. 

"From what's here, dark, evil crap and lots of it," Sam replies. "I mean, they follow him around like the friggin' Pied Piper." 

"So we're talking ghosts?" 

"Yeah."

"Zombies?" Again, Sam gives him an affirmative answer. "Leprechauns?" 

This time Andrea rolls her eyes. His endless questions are giving her one hell of a headache. 

"Look," Sam says tiredly. "It just starts with ghosts and ghouls, this sucker keeps ongoing, by night's end we are talking every awful thing we have ever seen. Everything we fight, all in one place." 

She sees the exact moment the joke leaves his face. 

"It's gonna be a slaughterhouse," Dean says gruesomely. 

Before either of the brothers can say something, Andrea stands up and walks out of the room, without saying a single word. Sam and Dean stare at each other for a moment. 

"Was it something I said?" Dean asks sarcastically. "Or do you think she realized how fucked up we are and decided to leave us alone?" 

"You do know that if we're going against a witch _and_ a demon we could definitely use another witch on our corner, right? If Andrea leaves right now, we're pretty much screwed." 

Sighing, Dean rolls his eyes. "Damn it," he complains, knowing his brother is right. "Are you going to talk to her or should I?" When Sam shrugs, Dean rolls his eyes again and walks out of the room. 

Andrea's door is open, but he still knocks, just in case. When she yells a _come in,_ he opens it, to find her setting white candles in a circle on the floor. 

"What are you doing?" He asks before he can even think about what he's saying. 

"I'm preparing a spell," she replies, barely looking at him. "With a witch this powerful in this place, I need to hide." 

"And then what? You're leaving? I mean for someone so full of _I'm powerful enough to do a lot of things,_ running away kinda seems like a coward's way out." He scoffs, shaking his head. 

His words make her stop, and look at him. "Who said anything about leaving? I'm not going anywhere, hunter. But staying doesn't mean I have to be a sitting duck," With that, she starts pacing around again. "Here," Andrea says all of a sudden, pushing something into his hands. "Light up those candles for me, would ya?" 

"What?" He asks a bit dumbfounded. 

"The candles on the floor. Light them up." Andrea moves to take something from her bag on the floor, and just as he starts lighting up the candles, she begins to pour salt around the circle of candles. Once he's finished, Dean stands a few feet away and waits. "Firstly, I need to cloak myself," She explains a minute later, putting the salt away. "Then, I'm going to track this witch down. Can you get me one of the hex bags?" 

Dean just nods before going to his room. He quickly tells Sam what Andrea is doing and grabbing the hex bag she requested they go back to her room. 

They find her sitting inside the circle, legs crossed, palms up and eyes closed. She's mumbling something inaudible under her breath, and all of a sudden the candle flames grow bigger and stronger. Realizing she's in the middle of her spell, they stay by the closed door, observing in silence as she, still with her eyes closed, grabs a knife from the ground and slashes her right palm. As the blood starts dripping, she starts mumbling again. And then everything stops. The candles go out, and her whole body relaxes as she lets out a breath and opens her eyes. 

It takes her a moment to focus and notice them there. "Oh, you're here. Where's the hex bag?" Dean moves closer cautiously and hands her what she asked. "Sorry, can you grab me that map over there? I'd hate to break the circle and do it all over again." 

Sam takes the map and gives it to her. They watch as she opens it on the floor and pours a vial of something that looks like sand over it. "What's that for?" Always interested in learning, Sam can't resist making a question. 

"It represents the Earth, the soil where everyone walks on," she replies before taking the hex bag between her hands and closing her eyes again. " _Ce che vous, pro la busque,"_ She chants _. "Ce che vous, pro la busque. Ce che vous, pro la busque_."

Unlike the spell they just witnessed, this time, nothing happens. Andrea opens her eyes to look at the map, but the sand is in the same place. 

Again, she closes her eyes and chants. Nothing happens. Andrea tries another four times before groaning and kicking a candle away in frustration. 

"What happened?" Dean asks, trying to understand what's happening.

"Nothing. And that's the problem. This spell isn't working." Looking at them, she sees the question mark on their faces. "Whoever this witch is, she's cloaked. And whenever I try to reach for her, it's like hitting my head on a wall. Literally and repeatedly." 

The brothers exchange a look as she paces around with a hand on her forehead. 

"So, what now? You can't help us?" Dean finally questions. 

"No. Now, you go back to your room and try to get some rest. I won't be able to do much more tonight. The witching hour is about to end and as soon as the stores are opened, I'll buy the things I need for a stronger spell." The boys don't argue, leaving her alone after saying good night. 

Once the room is cleaned of any evidence of her spell work, Andrea takes a shower and goes straight to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up in a couple of days.  
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Tell me, is your magic mojo able to clean blood stains from leather?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and bookmarks!  
> Hope you'll like this chapter

* * *

Early in the morning, Andrea goes shopping for the ingredients she needs for the new locator spell. It's been over three hours and she's nowhere done with her list when Sam calls her to tell Dean has a lead on the witch, and that they are going to the local high school to know more about this girl. 

Immediately giving up the shopping, Andrea drives back to the motel and starts looking for a spell to put this bitch down. Death spells draw on powerful dark magic, and they require a lot of concentration and energy, so she tries her best to focus herself and get ready. 

Andrea is halfway through a meditation when her phone makes a noise, warning her that her battery is dying. It takes her some time searching for her charger to remember she'd left it in the boys' room last night. 

Standing in front of their door, she looks around to ensure she's alone. Not seeing anyone, Andrea puts her hand on the doorknob and focusing she mutters one of the first spells she'd learned. " _Aperio._ " 

Immediately, the door opens. The second she enters the room and closes the door, she feels something is wrong. A wave of nausea hits her hard, and as her entire body grows cold and stiff, pain explodes inside her head. 

Andrea falls to her knees, groaning, the pain increasing, and quickly leaving her unable to breathe. 

It's obvious there's something magical at work here, something magical and evil. She struggles against nausea and the pain, trying to focus enough to draw in a breath. 

She just needs to catch her breath enough to say a protection spell. 

“From the east," Andrea barely whispers. "I call air to blow away this evil. From the south, I call fire to burn and consume this evil. From the west, I call water to wash away what’s evil. From the north I call earth, the mother of us all, to strengthen and protect me from this evil." 

Each word leaves her lips slowly and painfully, but she uses the last of her strength to force her magic to connect with the elemental magic she’s summoning, and as she repeats the protection incantation one more time, slowly but surely, Andrea feels some of the pain dissipate. It takes her a moment, but finally, she manages to get up from the floor and sit on one of the beds. 

Even though she's now warded against whatever magic had been at play here, she can't tell how much damage it did to her body. The nausea hasn't left and she feels tired and weak. 

Just as she's on the verge of passing out a deafening ringing noise sounds all over the room, and adrenalin shoots through her weary head, leaving her awake and ready despite her state. 

When two men materialize in front of her a minute later, Andrea forces herself up, ready to try and fight them. 

"Who the fuck are you?" She demands, staring at them. 

"We are not here to harm you, Andrea," the shortest of them replies in an emotionless voice. 

"That's not what I asked, shithead."

"Mind your tone, witch," The other man orders, taking a step forward. "We are angels of the Lord and a vermin like you will not disrespect us." 

_Angels?_ She asks herself, not sure if she should be relieved or worried. 

"You did a great job neutralizing the effects of the hex bags," Shortie says, breaking the silence. 

"You were here?" She asks incredulously whilst trying to push away a dizzy spell.

"Yes, we have been watching you for a while now," his tone is natural as if what he had said was the most normal thing in the world.

"Why didn't you do anything? Aren't angels supposed to, I don't know, help people?" 

Rude One took a step forward. "Angels are not supposed to do anything."

Shortie gives his pal a look before turning to look at her with his annoying analyzing blue eyes. "Your magic is strong. You did not need our assistance. And my name is Castiel, not Shortie." A chill runs up her spine as she realizes they can read minds. The dread makes her feel sick, and the next thing she knows, she's running to the bathroom to throw up. 

_10 minutes later…_

"Apparently the witch knows who you are too," Castiel replied, showing Dean a hex bag. "This was inside the wall of your room. If we hadn’t found it, surely one or both of you would be dead. Andrea almost did. Do you know where the witch is now?" 

Sam is the first to pick up on his words. "What? Andrea? Where is she? Is she okay?" Before Castiel can reply, the bathroom door opens up, revealing Andrea. She's pale and looking sick as if she was about to pass out. "Are you okay?" Sam asked, studying her. 

Leaning against the door, she nodded weakly. "Peachy."

"Dean, do you know where the witch is now?" Castiel repeated, not minding anything else.

The brothers exchanged a look. "We're working on it," Dean finally replies. 

“That’s unfortunate,” the angel replied. 

“Why do you care?” Dean’s question was the key to this whole thing.

“The rising of Samhain is one of the 66 seals,” the mention of seals draws Andrea’s attention and she forces herself to focus. 

“So this is about your buddy Lucifer,” Dean comments, and just as Uriel densely answers, Andrea speaks.

“Lucifer? As in the devil? What does that have to do with anything?” 

It’s only then that the brothers realize she’s completely clueless about what’s really going on here. 

“If all of the seals are broken, Lucifer will be freed from hell,” Sam summarizes and Andrea has to lean onto the door for support as her legs seem to fail. 

She doesn’t pay much attention to the conversation that follows, trying to refocus her mind, reorganizing her plans around this new information. Now that she knows what the demons are trying to accomplish, she understands the things that have happened, not only in her life but around her as well. 

A sound of flapping wings brings her back from her thoughts, and realizing the angels are gone, Andrea kind of slips to a seated position on the floor, her body still weak from the hex bag.

“Hey, hey,” Sam says, walking to her. “Are you okay?” 

“Not really, no,” Andrea replies, shaking her head. 

“Want some help?” As she nods, he helps her to stand up, and sit on the bed. 

“So, uh, did he mean Lucifer as in the devil? The one from the bible? The big monster at the end of the book?” Sam nods, silently answering her question.

“I thought you knew,” Dean states, studying her shocked expression. He wasn’t sure if she was pale because of the hex bag or because of what she had heard. 

“I know now,” she replies, taking a deep breath. “Well, shit just got real, didn’t it?” She jokes, using, as always, sarcasm to hide her true feelings. “Okay, so you do know who the witch is, right?”

“We think it’s the cheerleader, Tracy. She’s also Wallace's babysitter.” Sam replies, although finding the abrupt change in the subject rather weird. 

“Great, I have just the thing to stop the bitch.” A surprised expression appears on Dean’s face, but it’s soon replaced by satisfaction. “If you guys don’t mind, I’ll tag along.” 

“I like the attitude,” he compliments.

“Well, let me just grab my backpack.” With that, she stands up, and after another deep breath, she walks back to her room. 

Dean waits a moment after she leaves to turn to Sam. “She took that well, didn’t she?” 

Sam shrugs, “Yeah, I mean, she didn’t freak out as anyone else would upon finding out that the devil is trying to break free. Whatever that hex bag was, though, it seemed to hit her pretty well, so we should keep an eye on her.” 

They meet her outside, standing by their door, with a weird expression on her face. “Would you mind if I ride with you? My head’s a bit wobbly from that damn hex.” Sam notices her question is directed to Dean.

“Nah, it will be more discreet too,”

To say it’s weird to be in the backseat of a car with two hunters would be an understatement, but Andrea tries her best to not overthink this whole thing. She listens in silence as Sam talks about the angels, and how he thought they would be different, righteous. 

“Well,” Dean replies. “They are righteous, I mean, that’s kinda the problem. Of course, there’s nothing more dangerous than some asshole who thinks he’s on a holy mission.” At Dean’s words, Andrea can no longer bite her tongue. 

“And people still wonder why I’m a pagan,” she says more to herself than anything, but they still turn around to look at her. “What? Safe for a few exceptions, most Christians are alienated, fanatic racist homophobes. Angels being dicks doesn’t surprise me.” 

“I see your point,” Sam replies, looking thoughtful. “But, I mean, this is God? And Heaven? This is what I’ve been praying to?” As she shrugs, not knowing what to say, Dean replies. 

“Look man, I know you’re into the whole God thing, you know, Jesus on a tortilla and stuff like that. But just because there’s a couple of bad apples doesn’t mean the whole barrel’s rotten. I mean, for all we know, God hates these jerks. Don’t give up on this stuff, is all I’m saying. Babe Ruth was a dick but baseball’s still a beautiful game.” 

Sam still seems disappointed, and even though she doesn’t share his beliefs, Andrea can understand where he’s coming from, having had her fair share of disappointment where her people were concerned. 

Dean starts the car and looks at his brother. “Well, are you gonna figure out a way to find this witch, or are you just gonna sit there fingering your bone?” 

Sam, who so far seems to be the smartest of the duo, explains to his brother how much heat would take to char a bone like the ones in the hex bags, and they end up driving to the local high school. 

Andrea follows the brothers in silence and alert to everything. She hears their conversation but stays out of it. That is until they realize that the hex bag had appeared in their motel room after they’d spoken to Tracy’s teacher. Sam notices a locked drawer on the teacher’s desk, and just as he reaches for a hammer, Andrea steps in. She bends over, holding the lock with a hand. Closing her eyes, she focuses. “ _Aperio.”_

Immediately the lock falls open, and she steps aside. Dean stares at her for a moment. “That’s one hell of a party trick,” 

She offers him a smile, refraining from saying an _I told you so_. Inside the desk they find more human bones, thus confirming that the witch they’re looking for is the teacher and not the girl. Already being in the school, it doesn’t take them long to find out the teacher’s address. 

Inside the car, Andrea opens up her grimoire, and rolls up her sleeves, grabbing her swiss knife from her pocket. 

“Whoa, whoa,” Dean says as he sees her through the rearview mirror. “What are you doing?” He asks, turning around. 

“Do you really want to know? I mean, you did say witches were, what was the word? _Skeevy_ , right?” She asks in an innocent tone.

“Tell me, is your magic mojo able to clean blood stains from leather?” Dean asks using the same innocent tone she’d used. Andrea stares at him for a second, trying to understand what he’s saying. When the confusion disappears from her face, he continues. “Figured not. You’re not doing this in here.” 

“I’ll be careful?” She tries, but when he doesn’t seem convinced, she just rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Just give me a second then, I’ll be quick.” With that, she opens the door, and walks out, setting her grimoire on the hood of the Impala. Much to her surprise, the brothers follow her. 

They watch in silence as she reopens the grimoire on a page with a drawing of a circle with weird symbols. A closer look tells them that the circle, is in fact, a serpent that bites its tail. Removing the bandage from her right hand, she uses her knife to slash her still injured palm again. Closing and opening her hand, Andrea lets the blood fall in the middle of the circle, whilst muttering something under her breath, and much to their surprise, it’s like the grimoire absorbs it, not leaving a single drop staining the paper. 

“What’s that for?” Sam can’t help but ask once she stopped muttering. 

“It’s a linking spell. This grimoire is an object of power. It contains the essence of the magic from different witches of my bloodline. I’ll use its power to strengthen my own magic,” she explains, closing the grimoire. “I’m all done,” Andrea tells Dean, who had been quiet so far. “We can go.” 

The ride is silent, and for that, she’s thankful as it helps her concentrate better. The linking spell had removed the last of the hex bag effects from her body and she feels strong and ready. 

At the teacher’s house, she follows them inside the house and down a basement. There, a blonde girl is tied up to the ceiling as a man stands in front of her with a knife, chanting a spell. Just as he raises his hand, Dean shoots him, once, twice, and finally a third time for good measure. As the teacher falls dead on the floor, Andrea stands by the door, taken aback by the violence she just witnessed. 

"Thank you, he was gonna kill me!" Tracy shrieks. "Ugh, that sick son of a bitch. I mean, did you see what he was doing? Did you hear him? How sloppy his incantation was? My brother –" Andrea snaps out of it, at the same time as Dean and Sam draw their guns again, realizing that Tracy was a witch too. "Always was a little dim."

The blonde throws up her hand, yelling an ancient incantation that sends the brothers to the ground and leaving them writhing around in pain. It takes Tracy a fraction of a second to realize the spell did not affect the woman by the door, and Andrea uses her distraction and raising her hand, she yells her own spell. _"Corporis impetu!"_

Tracy is knocked against the wall by the force of Andrea's spell. Taking a step forward, Andrea raises both of her hands, focusing her magic on the blonde. She can feel Tracy's magic pushing against her own, strong and evil, and for a second she fears not being strong enough to stop this bitch. Closing her injured hand, Andrea digs her nails against her slashed palm, until she feels blood on her fingers, and with that, she tries to connect herself to a magic she hasn't used in a very long time. 

_"Le père, la mère, la sœur, le frère. Le père, la mère, la sœur, le frè--"_ Suddenly, a cold wave hits her, and Andrea chokes on her own words, feeling her magic fail, as a deep feeling of loneliness overwhelms her. It's all that Tracy needs to overpower her and send her flying to the opposite wall. She hits the concrete hard, pain exploding in her head as she joined the brothers on the floor. 

"Family sucks doesn’t it? Now, where was I? Right. My brother. He was gonna make me the final sacrifice, his idea, but now, that honor goes to him. Our master’s return? The spellwork’s a two-man job, you understand, so for six hundred years, I had to deal with that pompous son of a bitch. Planning, preparing, unbearable." She kneels, picking up the knife and the chalice the teacher had been holding before. "The whole time I wanted to rip his face off. And you get him with a gun, uh, love that." Going to the altar on the table, she continues her monologue. "You know, back in the day, this was the one day you kept your children inside. Well, tonight you’ll all see what Halloween really is." 

As Tracy starts another incantation, Sam, although still clutching his stomach in pain, moves to Don’s body, and putting his hand in the blood he smears it over his face.

"What are you doing?" Dean questions.

"Just follow my lead," Sam replies, spreading blood over his brother's face as well. Realization dawns on Andrea, as the younger Winchester moves towards her, but she shakes her head. 

As Tracy finishes the incantation, the ground cracks and black smoke pours out of it, and into the body of the teacher. 

Closing her eyes, Andrea tries her best to lie perfectly still on the floor, ignoring the sounds of what's happening in the room. She waits until she feels the dark demonic energy leave before opening her eyes. 

The brothers sit up and she remains quiet as Sam explains to Dean why he had smeared blood on their faces. 

"Yo, Andrea," Dean calls her attention. "You good?" 

She only nods, not trusting her words as she beats herself up in silence for not being strong enough to stop Tracy and prevent another seal from being broken. 

"Where the hell are we gonna find this mook?" Dean asks once they are outside. 

"He's in the cemetery," Andrea replies, finally speaking. When they both look at her with a question on their faces, she explains her words. "It's Halloween. Tonight the veil between this world and the spiritual world is at its thinnest." 

They only nod, getting in the car and driving off. 

"So," Sam begins in a conversational tone. "This demon's pretty powerful. Might take more than the usual weapons." 

"Sam, no," Dean replies after a second. "You're not using your psychic whatever. Don't even think about it. Ruby's knife is enough, and if not, hell, Andrea's here." At the mention of her name, she straightens up, paying more attention to their talk. 

“Why not?”

"Well because the angels said so for one –" Dean says, but Sam cuts him off.

"I thought you said they were a bunch of fanatics." 

"Well, they happen to be right about this one," 

It's almost like watching a tennis match, and in no time, they arrive at the cemetery.

"I don’t know, Dean, it doesn’t seem like they’re right about much."

"Well then forget the angels, okay? You said yourself, these powers, it’s like playing with fire." Dean picks up the knife and holds out the handle to Sam. "Please."

Without saying anything, Sam just takes the knife from his brother.

Andrea stays out of the way as the brothers grab their weapons from the truck. They move through the graveyard, following the sound of music and screams to a mausoleum. Down there, a group of teenagers is locked inside, desperate to try and get the gates open as undead hands reach out from the crypts to grab at them.

"You two, help them," Sam tells Dean and Andrea. 

"Dude, you're not going off alone." The older brother argues. 

"Do it!" Sam yells, running after the demon. Dean stares after for a moment, and Andrea moves, to open the gates. 

_"Aperio."_

As the gates open all of a sudden, some of the teens stare at Andrea, trying to understand what they just witnessed. 

"Go on, come on, get out, move!" As Dean screams the teens finally snap out of it, and they all rush past them. One of the graves on the wall cracks open, concrete falling to the ground as a zombie crawls out of it. 

Andrea freezes for a second, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she's seeing a real zombie in front of her. 

"Andrea!" Dean yells next to her, bringing her back to reality. 

"What am I supposed to do?! I never killed a zombie before!" She asks nervously, and he replies by shoving another knife in her hands. 

"Just stab them. This is silver, it should work," he says as he moves to fight zombie number one with a silver knife. "Bring it on, stinky."

The zombies just keep coming and Andrea tries her best to do as Dean instructed. It's a mess and she can't help but be clumsy and miss some most times, never having stabbed anyone. 

At some point, she feels the room's temperature drop and a woman appears in front of her. Andrea moves to try and stab her too, but the woman simply disappears, making her realize it's a ghost and not another zombie. 

The ghost is enough of a distraction and a zombie manages to wrap his arms around her making her scream. 

On his side, Dean stabs yet another zombie with his silver knife. The ghost appears to him as well, and just as Andrea screams, he flies across the room, sliding against the wall. 

It takes him just a second to recover, and stab the zombie holding her. "Zombie ghost orgy huh? Well, that’s it, I’m torching everybody." 

Andrea reacts, standing up. The panic in her eyes clear. "You said torch?" She asks shakily. 

"Yeah, fire kills both… hopefully," He replies, reaching for his bag, to get lighter fluid. 

"You won't need that," she tells him, a small smile appearing on her face as she extends her hands. Taking a deep breath, she lets energy flow through her. 

_"Phasmatos incendia!"_ At her command, a fire ignites out of nowhere, and zombies and ghosts are light like a bonfire. Dean watches astonished for a moment, never having seen a witch doing this kind of thing before. The fear had disappeared from her face as she stood powerful in the middle of the room, using her magic. Soon, the undead is consumed. Andrea turns to him, the fire slowly dying in her hands and their eyes meet. It only lasts for a second before he snaps out of it.

“We have to help Sam!” He yells and runs out of the crypt room, Andrea hot on his heels until he stops abruptly at a corner. She takes a step to the side, to see what’s happening, and then, she sees it too. Sam Winchester, a hunter, with his hand raised. The demon stands frozen in front of him, clearly in pain and struggling against whatever the hell the younger Winchester is doing. He looks deeply concentrated, and suddenly, blood starts trickling down his nose. There’s something in the air, some kind of power, but it feels wrong and twisted, and Andrea can’t tune into it for long. When she looks at Sam again, black smoke is pouring out of Samhain’s mouth, until a large cloud of black smoke goes down to the floor, burning through the ground and disappearing as the teacher’s body falls, dead. 

The brothers exchange a look that goes from shame to sadness to fear and everything in between, and the silence is heavy with unspoken words. Realizing there’s no more danger, Andrea knows she must leave them alone. “I’m gonna wait in the car,” she all but mumbles, before walking away from them. 

She leans against the car, the last of the adrenalin burning through her veins. Just as she feels her magic winding down, Andrea sighs to herself, looking at the intricate drawings in her hand, knowing what happens next. “At least it wasn’t a bad birthday,” she whispers to the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up by the end of the week.  
> Thank you for reading!  
> xoxo


	5. You got me there. I don't know. I guess I like drinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comment and bookmark!  
> Hope you'll enjoy this chapter :D

* * *

"All right, so, where do we go from here?" Dean asks, using the interruption of the annoying waiter as a subject change.

"I'm not sure," Sam replies and Dean's thankful he doesn't insist yet again on wanting to know what he remembered from hell. "Uh, looks like it's been pretty quiet lately. No signs of demonic activity, no omens or portents I can see."

"That's good news for once." He pauses, thinking. "How's Andrea?" 

This was their first stop since they'd left the small town where Samhain had risen, and so far, she had been locked inside her motel room.

"I don't know. When I knocked on her door yesterday, to see if she wanted to grab dinner with us, she never answered, but a while later I got a text, where she apologized, saying she wasn't feeling well." 

"We should check on her when we get back," Dean comments, taking another shot, and Sam stares at him for a moment. 

"Why the sudden change? I mean, you couldn't stand her a couple of days ago." 

"You didn't see her, Sam, back in that crypt, she torched the zombies and ghosts without breaking a sweat. Her mojo? It could seriously change the game for us." 

Not missing his words, Sam raises a brow. "So I was right? When I told you we could use someone like her on our side?"

Dean gives him a pointed look, unwilling to give him the victory. "You were going to say something before I asked about her. What was it?" 

Chuckling to himself, Sam shakes his head. "Have it your way. Up in Concrete, Washington, eyewitness reports of a ghost that's been haunting the showers of a women's health facility." His words make Dean choke with his beer. "The victim claims that the ghost threw her down a flight of stairs." Sam can't help but snort. "I can see you're very interested."

Eagerly, the older Winchester nods. "Women, showers. We got to save these people." 

  
  


They leave the diner, and as they get to the motel, the boys stop on Andrea's door and knock. When nothing happens, they knock again. Leaning against the door, Sam hears something that sounds like a groan. 

"Andrea? Are you okay?" 

They hear some shuffling inside, and a long moment later, they hear footsteps. As the door opens, Andrea's appearance surprises them. She looks like crap. Her hair is a mess. Her face is pale, and she has dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't slept in centuries. 

"Sorry," she says in a raspy voice. "You guys need me?" 

The brothers exchange a look, unsure of what to do. It's clear there's something wrong with her, but they don't know what to say. 

"Uh, are you okay? You don't look... good." Sam says, and Dean can't help but roll his eyes at his words. 

"Uh, I... I'm just coming down with something," she replies, trying to shrug but the movement makes her wince. Something in their faces must have given away their thoughts because she continues. "I'll be fine, I just need some rest." 

Sam looks at Dean, unconvinced, but the older Winchester just shrugs. 

"I'll be fine," she repeats, offering them a small smile. 

"Alright," Dean agrees. "We got a case. Concrete, Washington. It's just a few hours from here." He pauses, considering something before continuing. "If you don't feel well enough to drive that bike of yours, you can drive with us." 

"Thanks, but I'll just rest some more, and follow you guys later, if that's okay. Text me the address?" Before they can reply, Andrea smiles again, moving to close the door. "Great, I'll call you when I get there. Drive safe!" The door is shut in their faces, leaving them there, trying to understand what just happened. 

Dean reacts first. "That was rude!” He calls out loud, hoping she’d heard him. “Damn, I even offered to let her come with us. Come on, Sam. Forget her." As he walks away, Sam stands by the door for another second, trying to shake off the feeling that Andrea had just lied to them. 

The next day is one of the wildest rides the Winchesters have had for a long time. From Casper, the friendly ghost in the showers, to the bigfoot in the forest, to a giant living teddy bear with an existential crisis. Dean tests the wishing well Audrey told them about, and upon confirming that the well was indeed realizing wishes, both brothers got to work, trying to figure out what was going on. 

After finding the mysterious ancient coin, as Sam goes after the perv on the women's health center, Dean tries to do some research on the coin. When at first he doesn't find anything, he calls Andrea on an impulse. She doesn't pick up at first and he barely has time to leave her a message and send her a photo of the coin, before getting sick and having to run to the bathroom. 

A few hours later, when Sam returns, Dean is still in the bathroom, sick. 

"Dean? Are you alright?" Sam asks upon hearing his brother. Dean comes out of the bathroom looking terrible. 

"The wishes turn bad, Sam," he says in a strained voice. "The wishes turn very bad."

"The sandwich, huh?" Sam asks. 

"Well, I couldn't find much, so I texted Andrea," Dean tells him, taking a deep breath. He turns towards the bathroom, gagging as if getting sicking again. "I'm good. So, I sent her a photo of the coin and she came through. Apparently, the coin was Babylonian. The, uh… the serpent there is Tiamat, which is the uh," he pauses to look at the computer. "Babylonian god of primordial chaos. From what Andrea found their priests were neck-deep in some serious black magic."

"They made the coin?"

Dean nods. "Yeah, to sow the seeds of chaos. Whoever tosses a coin in the wishing well, makes a wish, it turns on the well. Then it starts granting wishes to all comers." 

"But the wishes get twisted," Sam continues. "You ask for a talking teddy…"

"You get a bipolar nut job," Dean completes. 

"And you get  _ E.coli. _ " 

The older Winchester ignores that. "Mm. This thing has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person gets their wish, it's trouble, but everybody gets their wish…"

"It's chaos," Sam realizes that this whole situation is only getting worse. The more people make wishes, the worst would be the after-effects. "Anyway to stop it?"

"Andrea said we got to find the first wisher. Whoever dropped the coin in and made the first wish, they're the only ones who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true, but once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get crazier and crazier."

Sam nods silently, thinking. "Did she say anything else?" 

"Nope. Nada. She just sent me what she found." Dean says shrugging.

"Do you think something is going on?" 

"How can I know, Sam? She isn't much of a talker now, is she? I mean, you were there when she slammed the door on our faces." 

  
  


Three hours away from Concrete, lying in bed, Andrea cursed herself. First for being so naive and secondly for being so weak. Two days had passed and she was still down for the count, alone, in pain, and feeling miserable. 

When she heard Dean's message Andrea realized she needed to get her shit together because they needed her help. The only reason the Winchesters were letting her hang around was that she was being useful. She had no doubts they would tell her to leave if she turned out to be more trouble than what was worth. 

Taking a few deep breaths, she got up. Firstly, she took a shower, using a special soap made from sage, to help cleanse her body. Then, she reapplied an herb paste over the marks in her left arm, wrapping it with a linen bandage. The relief was almost instantaneous and she managed to get dressed and comb her hair. 

Finally ready, she went back to the room and lit the only candle she had left, setting it on the table. Sitting down, she closed her eyes, and allowing her magic to flow, she put her right hand over her left arm.  _ "Resistus maledi."  _ Magic rushes over her, and it’s as if nothing had happened. 

As she packs her things, she tries not to overthink this whole thing too much. Yes, she’s stuck on a vicious circle, but if she has any hopes of making out of this mess alive, she’s going to have to make a few sacrifices. 

Upon arriving in Concrete, she'd texted Sam, but as it turns out, the boys have already solved their case. They'd melted Tiamat's coin, thus ending every wish and setting things straight. He told her they would be leaving town immediately, so Andrea just followed them.

When they finally stopped, hours later, in a small town to take a break, after checking herself in the motel, she decided she needed a drink. Badly. 

  
  


Once Sam is asleep, Dean, awakened by the horrendous scenes from Hell playing on repeat in his mind, gets up and goes to the bar he had seen on their way over. Booze is probably the only thing that will help. At least temporarily. There was no escaping his time in hell. It was something he would carry out with him forever. 

Walking inside the dead-end bar, he's surprised to see Andrea sitting there, drinking. She looks better than the last time he'd seen her, back when she'd slammed the door in their faces. 

"Well, well, well," he says, announcing his presence. "Don't you look all better?" 

Andrea looks at him for a moment, before replying. "Nothing a little spell couldn't fix," she says, shrugging. "What brings you here? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, resting your hero body for whatever saving you'll do tomorrow?" The usual sarcasm is there, but this time, Dean senses she isn't being as closed off as she usually is. 

He can't tell if that has something to do with the two empty glasses in front of her, or if she's actually trying to be friendly, but either way, he isn't up for an argument. Not right now. "Hero body, uh?" He asks. "Good choice of words." She just smiles, shaking her head and finishing up her drink. "What are you having? The next round is on me." 

"Mojito. More on the sweet side, though."

He orders her another mojito and a beer to himself, not missing the way the bartender all but ogles her. "So, why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep," she replies. "You?" 

"Insomnia is a bitch," Dean says in agreement. 

Andrea studies him for a second. "I probably have something, somewhere, that could help you with, uh, your nightmares," she says tentatively. 

He stares at her for a moment wondering how the hell she knows about his nightmares. Then he remembers they'd shared Bobby's living room when she first appeared. "If that's so, then why are you here?" He shoots back, not trying to be mean, but just trying to understand her. Someone who could magically send nightmares away and sleep like a baby shouldn't be at a bar this late in the night. 

Andrea laughs. "You got me there. I don't know. I guess I like drinking." 

He laughs at that, raising his beer in a compliment. 

"Can't argue with that one." 

They drink in silence for another moment, before Andrea breaks it. "Uh, I'm sorry about before," Dean looks at her, a bit confused. "I tend to get mean when I get, uh, sick."

He waves her off. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure everybody gets pissy when sick," 

They sit there in silence. However, when a new mojito finds its way to her, before the one she's having is even done, courtesy of the bartender, Dean rolls his eyes. The guy is clearly trying to get lucky tonight. He had done the same himself a couple of times, the subtle smiles, the drink-buying, but it was somewhat entertaining to see someone else doing it. Andrea raises the glass, wordlessly thanking the guy with a flirtatious look. 

"At least one of us is getting lucky," he comments out of the blue.

Andrea stares at him for a second, before smiling. "You know what's even better for sleepless nights than getting drunk? Getting drunk and getting laid," 

"Finally someone who shares my philosophy," he says with some awe and a laugh. 

"Well, life sucks and we are going to die. Some sooner rather than later. Why not enjoy whatever we can whilst we still can?" 

For a moment, Dean could swear he saw something else in her eyes, but just as it had appeared, it disappeared with another sip and a well-placed smile. Andrea didn't say anything else.

About four beers later, a woman arrives behind the counter, and the bartender comes to talk to Andrea. After they talk in hushed tones, the guy leaves, and Dean notices Andrea grabbing her things. Once she’s done, she stands up and sets a bill on the counter. 

“Have a good night, hunter,” she says with a smile as she passes by him. He snorts.

“Yeah, you too, witch,” As she walks out, he notices that the money she had left covered all of her drinks, even the ones the bartender had offered. Weird woman, that one. 

  
  


"Damn, honeypie," The bartender named Duke, says as he removes himself from her, and rolls over to discard the condom. At the same time, Andrea pulls the sheets to cover herself and sits on the bed, as she grabs her bra and panties from the floor. "Leaving already?" 

Putting on a smile, she turns back to nod at him. Five minutes and a  _ 'thank you' _ later she was out of his place and walking back to the motel. 

In the morning, during breakfast, Sam notices how both Dean and Andrea look hungover, but he doesn’t say anything. 

Two days later, Andrea finds herself sitting at a bar, watching as the Winchesters hustled money from some dumb idiots at a pool game. She could have stayed at the motel, but she was never one to deny free beer and some entertainment. Sam is doing a great job of pretending to be drunk, whilst Dean acts as the older, concerned big-brother. 

Suddenly, though, the younger Winchester just breaks the game and telling the dumb idiot to keep all of the money, he walks to the bar. Andrea stares at him for a second, unsure, but then she realizes he's not looking at her. He's looking at a cute brunette, two stalls over. As Dean follows him, Andrea gets up and walks over, staying behind him. 

"Well, you got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere near me," he tells the woman. 

The brunette keeps a straight face as she looks at him. "I just have some info, and then I'm go-- oh, you guys have company," she says noticing Andrea. Dean moves, realizing she had been behind him, and that's when the brunette's eyes lit up. " _ Anima maga,"  _

Immediately, Andrea's blood runs cold as fear awakens in her spine. "You're a demon," she whispers, shock and anger in her voice. 

Sam steps in, holding up a hand in what's supposed to be a calming gesture. "Hey, it's okay. Ruby won't hurt you." 

"She's a demon, Sam," Andrea replies, harshly. "I'm sorry if I don't trust you on this one," Grabbing her jacket she walks out of the bar without another word or another look. 

"You never told me the witch following you around was the damn  _ anima maga,  _ Sam!" Ruby exclaims as Andrea leaves. "Every demon who isn't in charge of breaking the seals is supposed to be out there, looking for her! She's one of Hell's priorities." 

Sam and Dean exchange a brief look. "You said you had some info," Sam says, not commenting on what she had just said. 

Knowing that she's being ignored, Ruby just sighs. "I'm hearing a few whispers,"

"Ooh, great," Dean replies, cutting her off. "Demon whisperers -- that's reliable."

Ignoring him, the demon continues. "Girl named Anna Milton escaped from a locked ward yesterday. The demons seem pretty keen on finding her too. Apparently, some real heavy hitters turned out for the Easter-egg hunt."

That caught Sam's interest. "Why? Who is she?"

"No idea. But I'm thinking that she's important, 'cause the order is to capture her alive, just like your witch pal. I just figured that whatever the deal is, you might want to find this girl before the demons do."

Upon seeing the nonchalant attitude of Dean, Sam tries to convince him. "Look, maybe we should check it out."

"Actually, we're working a case," Dean lies. "But thanks,"

"What case?" The demon challenges.

"Uh, we've got leads, big leads." He replies, unable to convince anyone.

"Sounds dangerous," Ruby answers sarcastically. 

"Yeah, well, it sure ain't goose-chasing after some chick who, for all we know, doesn't even exist, just because you say she's important,"

Ruby shrugs. "I'm just delivering the news. You can do whatever you want with it. Far as I'm concerned, I told you, I'm done." As she turns to leave, Sam stops her. 

"Wait, wait, wait. This hospital Anna escaped from -- it got a name?"

Outside, Sam and Dean find Andrea leaning against a wall, smoking. As she takes the cigarette to her mouth, the street light gives away that her hands are shaking. 

"Are you okay?" Dean asks after a second. 

"Okay?" She retorts. "You had an issue with me asking for your help just because I'm a witch when it turns out you two are working with a demon! A fucking demon!" 

Both brothers are taken aback by her words, but Dean reacts faster. "We're not working with her," he says, sounding somewhat offended. 

"Andrea," Sam continues. "Ruby isn't a threat. I mean, just like you're different, better than other witches we've met, Ruby is different from the other demons and--"

Andrea raises a hand, cutting him. "Look, I'm running from demons. I didn't sign up for working with one. While you two go do whatever that bitch just told you to do, I'll make myself scarce. Once you're done, and if you still want my help, you know how to find me." Putting out her cigarette, she walks to her bike and drives away. 

"Nice job, Sam," Dean tells his brother as she disappears down the road. "Nice job."

  
  


Not really having anywhere to go, and still hoping the Winchesters would want her around even after her freak out, Andrea reached out to Bobby Singer. The older hunter was out of the country, but he had been kind enough to let her stay in his place, as long as everything remained in the way he'd left it. 

Four days later, early in the morning, she was sleeping on the couch when her cellphone woke her up. It was Bobby, letting her know Sam and Dean were on their way to Sioux Falls.

_ "Thought you'd appreciate the heads up. They should be there any moment,"  _ Bobby said and just in time, Andrea heard the sound of a car. Heads up my ass, she thought to herself. 

"Thank you, Bobby." As she hung up, she was pretty sure she heard him laugh on the other end. Damned hunter. 

Just as Dean got out of the Impala, Bobby's door opened. Having thought the house would be empty, he immediately grabbed his gun. When Andrea appeared on the porch he wasn't sure of what to do. 

"Again?" She asked, shaking her head, remembering the last time they'd been in a similar position. 

As he put away his gun, he noticed the backpack and the keys in her hand. Before he can say something, Sam, Anna and Ruby got out of the car. At the sight of the demon, she tenses up. 

"Don't mind me," Andrea finally says. "I'm leaving." 

Considering everything Sam had told him, and everything that had happened in the past two days, Dean makes a decision. "Wait. Can I have a word with you?" She nods and moves out of the way as Sam guides Anna and Ruby inside Bobby's house. 

Alone, he continues. "Look, I understand why you're leaving and I won't stop you. But we could really use your help. That girl you just saw? She's being hunted by demons and angels alike. Her entire family was just murdered and we have no idea what to do next." 

Andrea seems to think over his words. "What about the demon?" 

"Believe it or not, she's actually helping us. She saved Anna. And she saved my brother. Before, when I was in Hell. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her, but we really need all the help we can get." 

Sighing, Andrea puts her keys in her pocket. "Look, I'm trying to save myself here, okay?" She pauses, looking away from his face as she continues. "I don't want to die in the middle of this mess, Dean," she says those words quietly, thoughtfully. Before he can say anything, she carries on, with a stronger voice. "If anything happens--"

"You're out of here. I get it. And I won't stop you."

Andrea nods, marking his words. "Alright, what do you need?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up by the end of the week.  
> Thank you for reading!  
> xoxo


	6. You can exactly drive around in that thing with three broken ribs, can you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, and for leaving feedback, in whatever form, be it kudos, comments, and bookmarks.   
> Apologizes for the delayed update, but I was digesting the series finale, as most of the fandom has been.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this chapter :D

* * *

As they walk back inside, Dean tells her. "Back in the Samhain case, you did a spell that hid you from the other witches and from the demon itself," he says, shutting the door. "Think you could make something like that for all of us? Something that could hide us from the demons and the angels?" 

"A cloaking spell, you mean?" He nods. "The one I used before was a, how can I say it? An individual kind of spell, powered by my blood. I can make some hex bags that will hide us from demons, but I’d have to do some research to find something to hide you from angels as well."

"Oh, the younger generation," Ruby suddenly says from behind them. "What a disappointment," she teases.

"Shut it, hag from hell," Andrea replies venomously. 

"Ruby," Dean says in what sounds like a warning, but the demon just shrugs.

"Don’t mind the newbie, I already did some hex bags. Extra crunchy. They'll hide us from demons, angels, all comers." She throws one at him and walks away. 

Andrea stands there dumbfounded for a second. "Well, guess you don't need me, anymore."

"No, actually," he says. "There's something else. Uh, Anna did something, a symbol back where we were, that sent the angels away. Ruby doesn't know what it is, and we never saw it either. Maybe you could take a look?" 

Keeping her face blank, Andrea nods. "Sure. You have a photo?" 

Dean hands her his phone, and she studies the image. "Sam said it's some kind of blood magic," he comments. 

"Do you have some paper and a pen?" Grabbing what she needs from Bobby's desk, Dean watches as she draws the symbol from the photo. She analysis the drawing and the picture quietly for a while. "Well," Andrea finally says. "From what I can tell, Sam isn't wrong. This is some hardcore blood magic, and if it sends the angels away it's because it's a banishing sigil of some kind, but I don't recognize these details. I'll look into it, though. See if I can find something." Still, with the drawing in her hand, she grabs her grimoire from her backpack.

"Thanks, Andrea," Distracted, she just waves him off. 

Andrea stays out of their way, keeping to herself even when the girl they're protecting, Anna, emerges from the basement and argues with them once she learns they've been digging into her personal life. 

She only pays attention when Dean ends up volunteering to go after someone who's supposed to help Anna find out who she is. Once he leaves, Sam and Ruby go to the kitchen to talk in hushed tones. Uncomfortable, she finds herself going downstairs, to the basement where Anna is, alone, sitting on the cot bed there.

"Hey," Andrea says from the door, with a weird wave. "How are you?" 

The redhead looks at her for a second. "You're the witch, Andrea. I-I heard Sam and Dean talking about you." 

"Yeah, right. Nice to meet you, too" Andrea says, trying to keep her voice normal. "I, uh, I just came to see if you needed anything." 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Anna tells her with an apologetic tone. 

"You didn't offend me. Don't worry," She pauses, thinking. "Look, I'm not very good at making small talk or socializing, but I can stay here, in case you don't want to be alone." 

Anna smiles. "I'd love some company. Thank you."

They sit there in silence for some time, until Anna speaks. “How did you get involved in this whole thing?” 

The question catches Andrea out of her guard, and it takes her a minute to reply. “Demons are after me. Uh, I’m the last living witch from a very powerful, uh type of witch, and that means my magic can be used to break the seals. I did everything I could, but the demons always caught up with me. I thought if I could offer my magic to help the Winchesters, they could, in turn, I don’t know, help me. And here I am.” 

“You did everything you could?” Ruby says, and turning around, Andrea sees her standing by the stairs. How long had she been there? “You can’t even make a proper hex bag, girl,” When she’s about to reply, the demon continues. “A long time ago, when I was still human, I was also a witch. I remember my coven mentioning soul witches. They were a big hit back then, extremely powerful, making other witches, and even demons fear them. And then we have you. You’re not that impressive. Why?”

Not replying, Andrea stands up to go back upstairs. Just as she passes Ruby, she sees Sam on the stairs, and from the way he’s looking at her, he had heard everything. “Excuse me,” she says, pushing past him, to hide in the living room once again. 

About an hour or so later, Dean walks in with a woman, wearing sunglasses. In the living room, the woman stops and looks straight at Andrea.

“That’s--” Dean begins, but the woman cuts him off. 

“The witch, Andrea, right?” When confusion appears on his face, she continues. “How do I know? Her aura burns bright like a roman candle, Dean. And I don’t need my eyes to read auras.” She pauses. “Nice to meet you, I’m Pamela, and I’m a psychic.” 

Andrea smiles. “Uh, nice to meet you too,” she manages to reply, still somewhat confused. 

“So, Dean, where’s the mysterious girl you need my help with?” 

“She’s downstairs in the basement. Let me help you,” He replies, offering her a hand. A few steps later, he turns back. “You coming, Andrea?” 

Not very eager to be in the same room as Ruby again, she stalls. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec.” She stays there until a loud bang comes from the basement, and she runs down the stairs.

She sees Dean getting up from the panic room’s floor. “I’ll bite,” he says. “Who are you?”

“I’m an angel,” Anna says, leaving everyone speechless. They move the talk upstairs, and everyone pretty much stays clear of the redhead. “Don’t be afraid,” the angel tells them. “I’m not like the others.”

“I don’t find that very reassuring,” Ruby replies, and Andrea makes a mental note of the uneasiness in the demon’s voice. 

“Neither do I,” Pamela says agreeing. 

As Anna goes on, explaining that she used to be in charge of angels like Uriel and Castiel before she cut out her angelic grace to fall from heaven and become a human being, Andrea stays on the couch, quiet and just as surprised as everyone else. 

“I don't think you all appreciate how completely screwed we are,” Ruby says after a moment. 

“She's right. Heaven wants me dead,” Anna completes. 

“And Hell just wants her,” Ruby states. “A flesh-and-blood angel that you can question, torture, that bleeds.” Then, she turns to study Anna. “Sister, you're the Stanley Cup. And sooner or later, Heaven or Hell, they're gonna find you.”

“I know,” Anna says in a worried tone. “And that's why I'm gonna get it back.”

“What?” Sam asks, confused. 

“My grace,” she replies. 

“You can do that?” Dean questions, interested.

“If I can find it,”

“So, what, you're just gonna take some divine bong hit, and, shazam, you're Roma Downey?” As always, Dean had the best references. 

“Something like that.” 

“I don’t understand. Why would you do that?” Andrea asks, speaking for the first time. “You gave it up to have a normal life, and now what, you’re just going back?” 

As everyone just looks at her as if she was either deaf or crazy, Anna stares at her in a knowing and almost sympathetic way that makes her utterly uncomfortable. 

“She doesn’t have a choice, _special needs_ ,” Ruby finally speaks, annoyed and apparently just happy to insult her. “Didn’t you hear? We’re being hunted by angels and demons.” 

“All right,” Dean interrupts, giving the demon a pointed look. “I like this plan. So, where's this grace of yours?”

When she starts explaining, Andrea grabs her pack of Marlboro’s and walks outside. She wasn’t an active smoker, but whenever she was nervous, she turned to it as a way to calm herself. Halfway through her second smoke, Anna appears at the door and comes to sit next to her in the middle of the salvage yard. 

“They don’t know, do they?” The angel asks. 

“Know what?” Andrea says, trying to lie, but Anna just stares at her. 

“About your magic, your mark...” The angel trails off. 

Sighing and taking another drag, Andrea shakes her head. “No, they don’t.”

“You said you don’t understand why I’m taking my grace back, but you’re pretty much doing the same thing with using your magic. You’re helping them.”

“It’s not the same,” Andrea argues. “I never had an opportunity to escape this,” she says, raising her marked arm. “If I had… I wouldn’t go back. Not for anything.” 

Anna shakes her head. “Yes, you would. You have a good heart, Andrea. That’s why you’re still here, helping them, helping me, even if you’d rather run as far away from Ruby as possible.”

“You’re wrong. I don’t have a good heart. I’m just here because I don’t have a choice.” The main door opens again, and as Dean steps outside Andrea stands up. “Look, I’d appreciate it if you kept this little chat of ours to yourself. They don’t know, and I’d rather keep it that way.” She walks away from them, further into the salvage yard, needing to be alone. 

Andrea isn’t sure of how much time passed when Dean comes to find her. “You okay?” He asks, making himself noticed. She shrugs, putting out her cigarette. “That’s a nasty habit.” He comments, pointing at her hand. 

“I know, but it’s not really a habit. It’s just something I do when I’m nervous. Is everything okay inside?” 

“Yeah, we’re leaving for Ohio, to find Anna’s grace. I came to see if you wanted to tag along.” 

“If I’m to be honest, not really, but if you guys need me…” she trails off, and Dean shakes his head. 

“Nah, don’t worry. You should stay here. I don’t know how many demons we’ll face, and here’s safer for you.” 

They stare at each other for a moment. “Uh, thanks,” she says. “But do call me if you need anything at all.” 

“Will do. Stay safe, Andrea.” With that, he walks away. 

As soon as they realize Anna’s grace is gone and the angels threaten to hurl him back to Hell, Dean steps away from everyone and grabs his phone, dialing Andrea’s number. 

“Hey,” he says when she answers. “I know you said you can’t do much against angels, but your mojo works against demons, right?” 

_ “Yeah,”  _ she replies after a second.  _ “Why? What happened?” _

“Anna’s grace is gone. We need your help.” 

On the other end, Andrea sighs.  _ “Okay. Text me your location, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”  _

Hanging up, he joins everyone else. “Who did you call?” Sam asks. 

“Andrea. We need all the help we can get,” 

“Right, because baby Sylvester is  _ oh _ ,  _ so helpful _ ,” Ruby’s sarcasm makes Dean stare at her with annoyance in his eyes. 

“Dean,” Sam says before his brother can reply. “What if you teach her, Ruby? Some spell, anything. If she can break seals, she can fight demons.” The demon just shrugs, but that seems to be enough for Sam. “Alright. We need to get out of here.” 

Andrea meets them at a barn in what’s pretty much the middle of nowhere, later in the night. Inside, she finds Sam reading a book, alone. “Hey, Sam,” she greets. “Where’s everyone?” 

“Hey, Andrea. Thanks for coming. Uh, Dean and Anna are, uh, somewhere outside.” A second later she understands what he means. 

“ _ Oh _ . Good for them. I guess I’ll find somewhere to set my stuff, then.” 

“You should rest,” he says when she starts walking away. “We have a crazy-ass plan, and whatever happens tomorrow, we’ll need everyone in top shape.” 

“Don’t worry, Sam, I’ll be fine. Why don’t you explain to me that plan of yours?” 

Very early in the morning, after Uriel’s little visit, Dean goes to find Sam. He finds his brother in the back of the barn, watching Andrea, who’s standing in the middle of the ground, a few meters away, wearing nothing but a black tank-top and jeans, despite the cold end of November weather.

“What’s she doing?” He asks, taking a sip from his flask. 

“A strengthening spell. She said something about channeling power from nature,” Sam comments, not taking his eyes off her. 

Dean shrugs. “Whatever it is, let’s hope it works.” With that, he walks back inside. 

Some minutes later, Sam and Andrea return, and as he turns to greet her, Dean notices several symbols drawn on her arms. “Wow, what’s up with all that art class?” He asks pointing at her arms. 

“Protection and strengthening sigils,” she tells him with a small smile. He just nodded, drinking more. 

Anna comes in, and looking at Dean, she frowns. “Little early for that, isn't it?”

“It's 2 a.m. somewhere,” is all he says. 

Andrea studies his face. “You okay?”

He looks at her, a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes on his face. “Yeah, of course,” Just as he says those words, Andrea tenses up. “Andrea?” 

“Get ready. Someone just crossed the spell I set around this place.” He gets up in time to see the doors blast open to reveal Castiel and Uriel. 

“Hello, Anna. It's good to see you,” Castiel says in his emotionless voice. 

Sam puts a protective arm in front of Anna but he seems confused. “How? How did you find us?” He hesitates for a second and something in his brother’s face gives him away. “Dean?”

The older Winchester looks at Anna. “I'm sorry.”

“Why?” Sam asks, knowing they had a plan, and the angels weren’t supposed to be here, not now.

It’s Anna who replies to his question. “Because they gave him a choice. They either kill me... or kill you. I know how their minds work.” Walking up to Dean, she kisses him. “You did the best you could,” she says looking in his eyes, and Andrea looks away from the obvious intimacy of the moment. “I forgive you.” Stepping away from him, she turns to face the angels. “Okay. No more tricks. No more running. I'm ready.”

“I'm sorry,” Castiel tells her in a tone Andrea supposes he thinks it’s honest.

Anna gives him a sad smile. “No. You're not. Not really. You don't know the feeling.”

The angel insists. “Still, we have a history. It's just --”

“Orders are orders,” she cuts him off. “I know. Just make it quick.”

Castiel takes a step forward, but just then, Andrea feels a presence and turning around, fears awakens in her as three demons manifest, two of them holding a bleeding Ruby, who has a pained look on her face. 

“Don't you touch a hair on that poor girl's head,” one of the demons say. 

Uriel steps forward, and the four of them move away to the side, nervously watching the scene in front of them. Andrea sees the other two demons throw Ruby to the side, and step behind their leader. 

“How dare you come into this room... you pussing sore?” Uriel demands.

“Name-calling,” The demons replies in an ironic tone, coming to stand in front of the angel. “That hurt my feelings... You sanctimonious, fanatical prick.”

“Turn around and walk away now,” Castiel orders. 

“Sure. Just give us the girl,” The demon replies looking at them, and upon seeing Andrea behind Sam, he smiles. “Or should I say, the girls,” He corrects smiling at her before looking at the angels. “We'll make sure they’ll be punished good and proper.”

“You know who we are and what we will do. I won't say it again.” Castiel says, walking up to stand by Uriel. “Leave now... or we lay you to waste.”

“Think I'll take my chances,” the demon replies with a challenge in his voice.

There’s a brief second of tension, and then Uriel moves fast, attacking one of the demons. Another moves onto him, and Castiel goes straight for the leader, punching him repeatedly, before putting a hand on his head. When nothing seems to happen, the demon smiles. 

“Sorry, kiddo. Why don't you go run to daddy?” He turns on Castiel, and pushing the angel to the ground, saying something in Latin as he chokes him.  _ “Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferna, me confirma!” _

A light appears on the other side of the room, as Uriel kills one of the demons, distracting him for a brief second. That’s when Dean moves and grabbing a crowbar, he hits the demon on top of Castiel. 

The demon stands up, stunned for a brief second, before turning to the brothers. “Dean, Dean, Dean... I am so disappointed. You had such promise.” With that, he extends a hand, and Sam and Dean fell to their knees in pain. 

It takes Andrea a second to react, but then she also raises her hand, focusing on the demon. “ _ Phasmatos Morsinus Pyrox Allum!”  _

Pain and surprise appear on the demon’s face as her magic makes him double over in agony. Boldened by this, Andrea takes a step forward, mentally increasing the intensity of the pain spell. Just as Sam and Dean start to recover from whatever it was the demon was doing to them, the demon stood, laughing at her, even though he still seems to be in pain. “That hurts, little girl.” 

“Good,” she replies, and raising her other hand, she conjures another spell.  _ “Ossox!”  _ One of his legs breaks, and he groans in pain. 

Suddenly, though, the demon moves at a supernatural speed, grabbing Andrea’s throat. Cutting her air off, he raises her above the ground. “That’s enough now,” Sam and Dean are hit with pain again. The demon studies her for a second. “Oh, you’ve been cheating!” he exclaims, and the protective sigils she had drawn on herself start to burn away, and almost instantly, agony hits her. “There. That’s better,” he says when she tries to scream and struggle in vain. 

Just as he throws her against the wall, knocking her out, to turn his attention to Sam and Dean, Uriel kills another demon, and Anna runs across the room, managing to snatch the vial with her grace from Uriel’s neck. 

“No!” The angel screams, but it’s too late, and she’s already smashing the pendant, thus releasing her grace. A white light flows to her mouth. The strength of it makes her fall to her knees, as a bright light starts coming out of her body. “Shut your eyes. Shut your eyes! Shut your eyes!” She yells as she manages to stand up. And the bright explosion that follows makes both Alistair and herself disappear. 

The brothers stand up, walking to face the angels. “Well, what are you guys waiting for?” Dean asks. “Go get Anna. Unless, of course, you're scared.” As Uriel steps forward, Castiel holds him back. 

“This isn't over,” He tells in a threatening and cold tone. 

“Oh, it looks over to me, junkless.” Another stare later, both angels disappear, and they exhale in relief. As Ruby stands, Dean walks over to where Andrea is starting to come through. He helps her to sit, and she groans in pain. “You okay?” 

“Not really,” she replies in a raspy voice, putting a hand over her ribs. 

“Can I?” Dean asks, and as she nods, he presses her side, checking her. Then, moving to her head, he touches the back of it, his fingers felt something wet, blood. “Looks like you have a couple of broken ribs, and there’s a cut on your head. You might need stitches.” 

“Awesome,” she tells him, struggling to breathe. 

“Let me just grab Sam and we’ll take you to a hospital.” Andrea shakes her head no. 

“You guys stitch yourselves up, right?” Dean looks at her for an instant, nodding. “Then I don’t need a hospital. I’ll be fine.” 

“Alright, let me help you up.” Supporting her, Dean walks them to where Sam and Ruby are. “What took you so long to get here?” He asks Ruby. 

“Sorry, I was late with the demon delivery. I was only being tortured.” She replies in a tired but still sarcastic tone. 

Dean turns to Sam. “I got to hand it to you, Sammy. Bringing them all together all at once -- angels and demons. It was a damn good plan.”

Sam shakes his head, a small smiling appearing on his face. 

“Yeah, well, when you got Godzilla and Mothra on your ass, best to get out of their way and let them fight,” he says, and Andrea doesn’t miss the way he looks at Ruby as he speaks.

“Yeah, now you're just bragging,” Dean replies. 

“So, I guess she's some big-time angel now, huh?” Sam asks after a moment. “She must be happy... Wherever she is.”

Dean stops for a moment, a sad look on his face. “I doubt it.” And Andrea was pretty sure he was right. 

Ruby left pretty quickly after that, which left the brothers to look after Andrea. Outside in the light, Sam checks her cut, hissing a little. “Yeah, you’re gonna need stitches. You sure you don’t want to go to a hospital?” Andrea nods stubbornly. “Okay. Not sure if we have painkillers, but we have whiskey.” He says grabbing their first aid kit. 

“I--I have some in my bag,” she points at her backpack, groaning at the way moving puts pressure on her ribs. Sam takes the backpack and holds it as Andrea opens the zipper and takes out a small toiletry bag. Inside, there are several medicine bottles. She picks one, and Sam notices the label, reading Oxycodone. He doesn’t say anything as she pops two pills into her mouth, swallowing them dry. 

Just as he starts prepping the needle and thread, Dean walks to them. “So, I texted Bobby. To let him know we’re leaving your bike here, so he can come and pick it up,” Andrea looks at him, puzzled. 

“What? You want me to leave my bike here?”

“You can exactly drive around in that thing with three broken ribs, can you?” Dean questions, and continues, note giving her time to reply. “In the meantime, you can drive with us. When you’re better, we can stop at Bobby’s and you can get it back. Sounds good?” 

Andrea shakes her head. “Fine. Whatever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up by the end of the week, and you will finally find out some more about Andrea and her magic.   
> Stay tuned.   
> xoxo


	7. Aren't we all? Dying, I mean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! As promised, here's a brand new chapter. Thank you so much for reading and for leaving feedback ;)  
> I hope you guys enjoy this update.

* * *

Hours later, far enough from the barn, the brothers make a stop, to have a beer and talk. Andrea is in the backseat, looking pretty much passed out. “How much did she drink while you were stitching her up, Sammy?” 

Sitting over the car, Sam laughs, shaking his head. “Actually, she didn’t. She just took some heavy painkillers she had on her bag.” 

“Good. She should sleep after everything,” he says thinking of how she had stood up against Alaistair. “I can’t believe we made it out of there,” 

“Again,” Sam adds, and Dean holds out his beer as his brother clinks it with his own. They drink their beers, thinking.

“I know you heard him,” the older Winchester says after a moment. 

“Who?” 

“Alistair,” Dean replies. “What he said... about how I had promise,” 

Sam nods. “I heard him,” he simply says. 

Dean looks at him. “You're not curious?”

“Dean, I'm damn curious. But you're not talking about Hell, and I'm not pushing.” As Sam says those words, his brother takes another sip of the beer, silent. 

“It wasn't four months, you know,” Dean continues, after a minute. 

“What?” 

“It was four months up here, but down there... I don't know. Time's different. It was more like 40 years,” he explains. 

“My God,” Sam says, regretting not being able to do something, anything, to free Dean from Hell.

“They, uh... They sliced and carved and tore at me in ways that you... Until there was nothing left. And then, suddenly... I would be whole again... like magic... just so they could start in all over. And Alastair... at the end of every day... every one... he would come over. And he would make me an offer. To take me off the rack... if I put souls on... if I started the torturing. And every day, I told him to stick it where the sun shines,” he says with a sad smile. “For 30 years, I told him. But then I couldn't do it anymore, Sammy. I couldn't. And I got off that rack. God help me, I got right off it, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls,” A tear rolls down his cheek as he continues. “The--the things that I did to them.

“Dean…” Sam begins, hoping to be able to find the right words to comfort his brother. “Dean, look, you held out for 30 years. That's longer than anyone would have.” When Dean starts crying, Sam isn’t sure of what to say anymore. 

“How I feel... This... inside me…” He says, running a hand over his face, wiping away his tears. “I wish I couldn't feel anything, Sammy. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing.” 

Inside the car, Andrea, having woken up in the middle of their talk, wipes her own tears away, moved by everything she had just heard, and now seeing Dean Winchester in a new light. When the boys get back inside a while later, she pretends to be asleep, to give them some privacy.

Early in the following morning, Andrea wakes up to a familiar ache inside of her that has nothing to do with her broken ribs and a wave of worry takes over her as she sits up, groaning as her ribs complain. 

"You okay?" Sam asks, turning to look at her. 

"Just sore," she replies, her voice rough and weird from being choked by a demon, offering him a smile. "Uh, are you stopping anytime soon?"

The brothers exchange a look. "You need something?" Dean asks, not taking his eyes off the road. 

"Uh, kinda, and I… I wouldn't mind some breakfast, either." 

"Breakfast sounds good," is all he replies. 

About an hour later they found themselves in a roadside diner. Just as the waitress sets Dean’s plate in front of him, his phone rings, and he grumbles. “Shit,” Seeing Bobby’s name on the screen, he answers it. “Hey, Bobby,” 

_“Dean, can you talk?”_

“Yeah, go ahead. Sam, Andrea, and I were just about to eat, what’s up?” There’s a moment of pause. 

_“Can you step outside for a sec?”_ Confusion appears on Dean’s face, but still, he gets up and walks outside. 

“I’m out. What’s going on, Bobby?” 

_“Has Andrea been using her magic?”_

“Yeah, she has. Why?” 

_“When was the last time she used it?”_ Bobby's tone is filled with what Dean thinks is worry.

"Yesterday. Bobby, what's going on? Why all the questions about her? Should I be worried?"

_"Look, I just got home and I found some things while I was gone. We need to talk. How fast can you get here?"_

Dean looks at his phone, thinking for a moment. "It's a seven hours drive give or take, so maybe early in the evening?" 

_"Alright. Drive safe,"_

"Will do," Dean's about to hang up when Bobby calls his name. 

_"And Dean? Keep an eye on her and be careful, alright?"_ With that, the older hunter hangs up, and Dean stares at his phone for a moment.

Then, as he walks back inside he watches Sam and Andrea talk. Bobby's words had been enough to bring back his initial suspicions, and now he wonders if he had made a mistake in letting her, a witch stick around. They didn't really know anything about her, other than her name and the fact that she was a powerful witch being hunted by demons. However, no matter how powerful she was, he would stop her before she could even think about screwing them up. 

"You okay, honey?" The older waitress asks, snapping him back from his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Would you mind packing my plate to go?" 

"Of course not," as she walks away, Dean goes back to the table. 

Sam, always the observer, notices the change on his brother's face. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we need to get going," he says, grabbing his jacket. "Bobby needs us." 

"What did he say?" 

_Damnit, Sam._ "He found something important. About the apocalypse," Dean lies, hoping that would convince Sam. "So, we need to go." 

"Oh, that's good. Let us just finish and we'll be on our way," Dean shakes his head.

"You can finish that on the car. Let's go."

As he turns and walks away, Andrea looks at Sam, an unspoken question on her face. "Don't mind him," the younger Winchester says. "There's just too much on our plates right now. If Bobby called and asked us to stop by it's because it's important." 

As he drives to Sioux Falls, every now and then, Dean watches Andrea through the rearview mirror, his mind lost on what Bobby had said. 

Lost in her own thoughts, Andrea is worried. She had hoped she would be able to convince the boys to stop at a motel or something soon, because of her ribs and all, but now, they're going to Bobby's, and going back to Sioux Falls means staying inside the car for another few hours. She tries to keep herself calm, knowing anxiety will only make things worse, but at the same time, she grows restless. 

Finally, she decides to, yet again, take the easy way out, and laying back on the seat, she puts a hand over her arm, and closing her eyes, she whispers the familiar spell. _"Resistus maledi."_ The healing magic flows through her body, and she sighs with relief. 

"You okay back there?" Dean suddenly asks, startling her.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired." 

Sam turns around, offering her a smile. "We'll be there soon."

When they arrive, Bobby opens the door with what can only be described as a serious face. "Good to see y'all, come on in," 

Once they're all in the living room, Sam, not knowing the reason behind Bobby's call, speaks. "So, what did you find? Is it about demons or angels? Do you have something on Lilith?" The older hunter gives him a confused look, before giving Dean a pointed look. Following Bobby's eyes, Sam looks at his brother, confused. 

"We're not here about the apocalypse, Sam," Dean says sighing. "We're here about her," 

At the same time Sam turns to look at Andrea, surprise appears on her face. "Wait, what?" She asks, tensing up as she looks between them. For a brief second, the urge to turn around and run hits her hard. She could try and make a run for it. A second later, her inner voice reminds her that even if she managed to go past the hunters obviously standing between her and the door, and left this place, left them, she would still have nowhere to go. 

Taking a deep breath, she stares at the three hunters surrounding her. 

From where he stands, Bobby speaks. "You haven't been honest with us, girl," he waits for her to say something, but Andrea just stands there, arms crossed and a blank expression on her face. "Alright, so, since you came along, I've been doing some research. I was trying to understand where soul witches came from, that sorta thing. And then, while I was in the Dominican Republic, I found this legend, about a witch who wielded so much power that she got herself killed. At first, I thought, nothing new here, some witches have been known to go overboard, and overcharge themselves with magic. But then, the story said the witch died when the mark found her heart," the hunter makes a pause, to let his words sink in and to see if she's going to say something, but Andrea stays quiet. 

Dean runs a hand over his face. "Look, I haven't slept in a while, and I just drove, what, twelve hours straight? You gotta be more clear, Bobby. What does that mean?"

"It means she's dying, ain't that right, Andrea?" Bobby asks, staring at her as surprise and disbelief appear on Sam and Dean's faces.

"Aren't we all? Dying, I mean," Andrea finally says, sarcasm thick in her voice. When no one comments on her dark humor, she sighs. "Fine. It means this mark is like a chronometer," she explains. "It grows little by little every time I use magic. Eventually, it'll reach my heart," she sighs. "And when it does, I'll die. Like the witch in Bobby's story." 

"Wait a minute, you’re dying, and you didn’t think we should know?” Dean demands, somewhat angered. 

"I told you what you needed to know," Andrea answers, keeping her voice normal, despite her tense posture. 

“Andrea, using your magic is killing you,” Sam tries to reason with a calmer voice. “That _is_ something we needed to know, especially because all you’ve been doing lately is using your magic. I mean, you offered to help us, by using your magic!” He declares, exasperated.

“Look, this isn’t going to kill me right now,” raising her hand, she rolls her sleeve up, showing her mark. “See? There’s still a long way up my arm and into my heart. I chose to come to you and I chose to use my magic, ok? And besides, why do you care? When I do die, it’ll be one less evil bitch in the world. Isn’t that what you hunters are all about?”

The brothers look at each other for a moment. "We don't want anyone dying for us," Sam says in a conciliatory tone and much to his surprise, Andrea laughs and shakes her head. 

"That's rich coming from you, hunters who risk your lives every day for people you don't know," 

"That's not the same thing," Dean argues. 

Yet again, Andrea shakes her head. "It _is_ the same thing but you know what? I'm too tired to argue with you," she turns to Bobby. "Now you want me to be honest? Let's be honest. This is about the apocalypse. Lucifer. The end of the world. You need to stop it all. You need to kill Lilith. Right?" As they nod, she continues. "As I told you before, I can help. I've shown you how I can help. And, you need me. Now this," She asks, raising her left hand. "Is this a problem? Yes, but it's _my_ problem and it's under control. I know what I'm doing."

"We can't ask you to do this. We can’t ask you to give up your life," Sam says, sounding concerned. 

"You're not asking, I'm offering. I'm not giving up my life, okay? This won't affect me in the long run," She lies, hoping her rough voice sounds convincing enough. "Sure nothing in life comes free of charge, but if we do stop the fucking apocalypse… Well, sounds a reasonable price," she pauses, and seeing their expressions, she continues. "To me, at least. Look, I'm not a supplicant. I don't beg, ok? Just like I said on day one if you guys don't agree with me, if you don't think I should be here, it's fine. I'll be out of your hair," A heavy and deafening silence hangs in the room for over a whole minute, and Andrea finally sighs, accepting their silent decision. "Well, it was good while it lasted," she jokes, pushing to the back of her mind the fear and the sadness that takes her over. 

"Wait. Where will ya go?" Bobby asks. 

"It doesn't matter,” she says in a quiet voice. “If you do decide I should leave, whatever I do afterward will no longer concern you," she pauses, walking towards the door. “Look, I need a smoke, and you obviously need to, uh, confederate about what just happened. So, I’ll be outside,” 

As Andrea closes the door behind her, the three hunters remain silent for a moment. “That went well,” Dean says, scoffing and breaking the silence. "Now what? Should we just let her go on her merry way or…?" He trails off, his thoughts racing.

"Uh, I don't think we should let her go, Dean," Sam says. "Ruby said Hell's after her. God only knows what they'll do to Andrea if they catch her," 

Knowing very well what demons are capable of, Dean just nods. "What do you think?" The older Winchester asks, looking at Bobby, who had been quiet so far. 

"Sam's gotta point. We can't let them take her. But still, what are we gonna do 'bout her magic?" 

"She said she has it under control," Dean replies, half shrugging.

"And you believed her?" Sam questions, sounding like he didn't. Believed her, that is.

Dean nods. "The other day Andrea told me she doesn't want to die in the middle of this. Besides, she's the witch here. She must know what she's doing. So yeah, when she says she's got it under control, I believe her." 

Bobby and Sam look at each other, considering Dean's words for a moment. "She could be lyin' ya know?" The older hunter says in an ominous tone. 

"What makes you think that, Bobby?" Sam asks, running a hand through his hair. 

"Well, she has lied about her magic. She could be lying about this too," he pauses, considering his next words. "Also, I dunno. Call me crazy, but there was something in her eyes when she was talking… She had an _I've got nothing to lose_ look in her eyes… like the one you had in your eyes when you knew you're indeed going to Hell, Dean," 

"So, you think her magic isn't under control, but she's willing to use it anyways to help us and to fight the apocalypse," Sam reasons out loud.

" _I_ think we're overthinking this," Dean says, making a face at Sam and Bobby, and pointedly ignoring Bobby’s previous words. "Look, she was right when she said we need to stop the damn apocalypse. And she's right in saying that we need her. We need her magic. We could have leverage here. You said that yourself when she first appeared, Sam. Besides, Andrea said she has her magic under control and she said she wants to live. That's enough for me," It takes Bobby and Sam another look before they finally nod, agreeing, albeit reluctantly, with Dean. "Great. I'll let her know," 

He stops by the kitchen to grab himself a beer and walks out. Dean finds Andrea sitting on the front steps, the smell of tobacco blending with the night.

"So you're the one delivering the news," she says without looking back. "At least you won't beat around the bush, looking for the right words and whatnot," 

"How did you know it was me?" His question makes her look at him and there's a glint in her eyes.

"I'm a witch, remember?" She takes another drag. "So, what's gonna be? Should I stay or should I go?" Her voice is so neutral and dry, that it takes him a moment to catch the reference. 

"The Clash?" She just shrugs, and for a minute Dean thinks about what Bobby said. "Well, uh, Sam and Bobby agreed that we should uh... keep you," 

Andrea looks at him again. "You should keep me? Really?" She questions and there's a shadow of a smile on her face. "Will I be fed and walked too?"

Her sarcasm makes him roll his eyes and shake his head. "You know what I meant," She nods, half smiling. 

"I was just messing with you," As she says that, Dean opens his beer and walks the few steps between them to join her on the stairs. 

"You do have your magic under control, right?" He asks after a moment. 

"Ye _p_ ," she replies, throwing the cigarette butt away. 

"Good, 'cause we'll need all the help we can get," they sit in silence for a while until Dean speaks again. "You could've told us,"

Andrea shakes her head. "Had you been in my place, would you? Tell people?" She turns to him, and after studying his face for a moment, a knowing look appears in her eyes, and Dean doesn't reply. He knows he wouldn't have said anything. It was what he had been doing ever since he came back topside, pretending not to remember what had happened in Hell.

"How’re your ribs?" He asks blatantly changing the subject. 

"Way better. Painkillers are magic," a smile is on her face and Dean laughs at her words.

"You ain't wrong," A few minutes later Bobby and Sam appear on the door, beers in their hands. They all stay outside for some time, drinking and exchanging a few words. When they get inside, Bobby lets her know he has his other guest room ready this time, and soon they all head up to bed. 

Yet again, Andrea finds herself too wired up to sleep. The healing spell she used on herself not only healed, but it also gave her strength and energy for quite some time afterward which was always good unless she wanted a good night of sleep. 

The clock on the bedside table mocks her with every minute that passes, turning into hours. Finally giving up, she gets up, and walks downstairs, hoping the night air might give her insomnia some quietness and comfort. She tries to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake anyone up. 

Just as she's about to open the front door, a voice startles her. "Insomnia sucks, uh?" Andrea all but jumps, her heart beating fast. She turns around, a hand in her chest. 

"Holy shit!" She curses a bit too loudly. "Make some noise, _hunter_ ," she completes, lowering her voice to a whisper, but still making the word hunter sound like an insult. 

Dean laughs at her reaction. "Sorry, _witch_ ," he says a second later. Then, he walks into the kitchen and grabs another glass, pouring whiskey. "Here," He offers it to her, and Andrea happily takes it. 

"Thanks," The burn in her throat at the first sip feels good and she smiles, thankfully. "Nightmares again?" 

Dean shrugs, finishing the contents of his glass in a gulp. Much to her surprise, Andrea finds herself gesturing with her head, silent telling him they should go outside, and grabbing her glass, she walks out. He follows her, and again, they sit on the stairs. 

"What's your reason?" Dean questions. "For insomnia, I mean," he completes, seeing the question in Andrea's eyes.

She hesitates for a second but finds herself answering. "Well, there's quite a lot that keeps me up at night, but magic is one of the main reasons." 

"Your magic? Why?"

"Uh," Andrea begins thinking of how to explain it to him. "Whenever I use my magic, it leaves me wired up and feeling good for quite some time afterward. Which isn't a bad thing, but it sucks if you want a good night of sleep," she finishes, ending her drink as well.

Dean studies her. "Have you tried, I don't know, not using it?" Andrea suddenly laughs at his question, shaking her head. 

"Sorry, but I'm nowhere near drunk enough to answer that," Her answer puzzles him more than he lets on, and Dean finds himself wanting to know more about her. However, a part of him doesn't want to pry at the same time, so he just lets it go. 

The night air is rather cold against her bare arms, and she half regrets not throwing something over her tank top. Soon, however, the whiskey starts doing its job of warming the two of them up.

"Thank Universe for alcohol," Andrea says four half-full glasses later, already feeling tipsy.

"Damn right," Dean replies, raising his glass as if toasting to her words. "The universe uh?" He asks a second later. 

"Pagan, remember?" She says, smiling easily. "What else am I supposed to thank? God? Angels? I'm pretty sure they don't like booze, or at least, that’s what their servants say down here," 

"Well," Dean says looking at her. "I'm pretty sure they don't care," Andrea laughs with his words, and a second later he joins her. Grabbing the bottle, she refills her glass and then his. 

"Here's to not caring," She says. Still laughing, they click their glasses and drink. 

"Let me say, you handle your whiskey better than Sam," He tells her in a joking tone.

"I'm a rum drinker, _hunter_ ," He pretends to clap his hands, looking impressed. "'Sides, lots of sleepless nights mean I get to practice a lot,"

"Nothing's better for sleepless nights than getting drunk," He concurs. 

"Getting drunk and getting laid," Andrea finds herself saying automatically. As she finishes her glass, she doesn't notice the way Dean looks at her. 

With the current pace, it doesn't take them long to get to the end of the bottle. They're almost running out of whiskey when Dean's voice breaks through the nice hazy feeling that had settled in her head. "Getting laid, uh?" 

It takes a moment for his words to sink in, but when they do, Andrea looks at him, and her brain makes notice of how hot and attractive the hunter is, with his green eyes, pretty face, and muscular body. "What?" She asks, looking at him. 

His eyes meet hers, and next thing he knows, he's putting a hand on the wooden floor, next to her leg, to support himself as he leans over to kiss her. She kisses him back, heat awakening in her lower abdomen. Just as he traces her lower lip with his tongue, a bit of coherence stirs up in her mind and she pulls back. "What are you doing, Dean?" She whispers.

"Getting drunk and getting laid, Andrea," That's all it takes for her to smile drunkenly, and kiss him hard. His hands found her waist, and she opens her mouth, accepting his unholy tongue and fully embracing the heat that's spreading through her body. As their mouths all but ravish each other, his hands go lower in her waist, finding her ass, and Dean raises her so she can open her legs and mount him. 

The black leggings she's using aren't much of a barrier, and with her hands on the back of his neck, Andrea shamelessly grinds herself against his hardness. 

Her moves make Dean even more aroused, and he uses his hands to pull her even closer and increase the friction. He trails his lips down her neck with wet kisses, quickly finding the top of her breasts. When one of his hands palm her, his fingers teasing her nipple over the fabric, Andrea moans against his mouth. Her moan goes straight to his groan and he pulls back, breathless. "Let's move this inside," she just nods, kissing him hard again, before getting off of him, and standing up. 

Drunk, she loses her balance and if not for his hand, she would've surely fallen on her ass. Still holding her hand he pulls her for another kiss, before opening the door. 

They half walk half stumble to Bobby's living room. Andrea pushes Dean to the couch, and as he falls seated, she takes off her pants, standing in front of him in panties and tank top. The way his tongue traces his lower lip, as his eyes are stuck on her makes her feel even better, and encouraged by the alcohol, she runs her hands through her body, cupping her breasts sexily, before one of her hands goes lower and inside her panties. As she touches herself, Dean opens up his jeans, and pulling his hard cock out, he strokes himself watching her masturbating in front of him. It only lasts a moment as urgency takes over them. He pulls her to him and stepping closer with her legs opened over his, Andrea pushes her panties aside and lowers herself. 

The first touch of their intimate parts is explosive and as she welcomes him into her body, he groans in pleasure. She moans loudly, and one of his hands found her mouth. "Keep it down, sweetheart," his voice is low and intimate and his tone is insanely hot. Andrea replies by starting to move, back and forward at first and then, when his hands go to her hips, up and down. 

Dean pulls her tank top down, exposing her breasts to his mouth and tongue, and he kisses, licks, and gently bites her nipples, driving her crazy. They pick up the pace, hips moving against each other faster and harder, and when his fingers find her clit, she comes for the first time, hiding her face on the crook of his neck to keep her moans down. 

Dean increases his pace pulling her down with his hands on the top of her ass, as she rides her orgasm, he feels he's too about to come and when she sinfully moans against his ear a moment later, he can't hold it anymore, cumming inside of her. Andrea keeps riding him, and touching herself, she makes herself come one more time. 

She lays her head on his shoulder, and they stay there for a while, breathing heavily, without moving. 

"You good?" He asks after what feels like forever. 

Andrea raises her head to look at him. "Fuck yeah," she replies. A little more aware after two orgasms, she pulls her tank top up, covering her breasts. She moves to get off of him, and straightening her panties, she sits by his side. "I should go," she tells him after a while, starting to feel sleepy.

Dean nods. “Same,” She offers him a smile and stands up. For a moment she seems to hesitate, but then, slowly, Andrea walks back to the guest room, and minutes after hitting the bed, she's fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that happened. o.O  
> What do you guys think?
> 
> See you all next week!  
> xoxo


	8. Yes, Sam, we'll call her if we need her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I apologize for the lack of updates in the past weeks. I came home for the holidays and things got a bit chaotic, but I'm back to posting once a week again. Thank you so much for your comments, kudos, and bookmarks.  
> Without further ado, here's the new chapter.

* * *

Andrea wakes up to a terrible headache, as her entire body complains not only from all the drinking she’d done but also from all the magic she’d used before. Then, as images from last night flash in her head, she groans, not believing she had been that irresponsible. 

With a sigh, Andrea forces herself out of the bed. Knowing she'd missed the sunrise a long time ago, and feeling too worn down to do it now, she skips her morning yoga completely. After a shower, she gets dressed, heading downstairs for some much-needed coffee. 

She finds both Sam and Dean in the kitchen, and while the younger Winchester looks awake and ready, having clearly started his day earlier, Dean is slumped over the table, a mug in front of him. He looks up at hearing her and for a moment, awkwardness feels the room. When their eyes meet, something appears in his green eyes, but just as fast as it came, it was gone. _Is that... regret in his eyes?_ A small voice asks inside her head, but she shrugs it off, choosing not to care, especially because of Sam's presence. 

“You look like I feel,” she tells the older Winchester, keeping her tone neutral and somewhat fun. 

He stares at her for a moment. “You _don’t_ look how I feel. You look way too, uh, composed, for someone who drank like you did last night,” 

Andrea laughs. “Thank the Universe for showers and make-up,” She says, meaning every word. Then, she walks up to the coffee machine, inhaling the delicious and mouthwatering scent. 

"Bobby wasn't happy about the mess you two left on the front porch," Sam comments, not looking up from his computer.

"It was just two bottles and two glasses, Sammy," Dean replies, waving him off. “Mugs are on the top cabinet,” He says to Andrea before she can even ask. As she reaches out, he doesn't miss the way she flinches, her free hand all but flying to support her injured injured side.

“Thanks,” she replies, pouring herself some coffee. She walks back to the table and sits there, quietly sipping on her coffee. 

"Bobby got wind of a case a few hours from here," Sam says after a moment. "From what he checked, it sounds like a ghost. I told him we'd go,” 

As Dean nods, Andrea takes a sip of her coffee. "Another ghost?" She asks, remembering the first time she'd helped them had been with a ghost. "Sounds fun," 

Just then, Sam and Dean exchange a look. "You sure you're up for it?" Sam questions, and as she opens her mouth to reply, Dean beats her to it.

"She should stay, Sam," He says all too fast, and Andrea stares at him. 

"I'm right here," she comments casually. 

"I mean, you should stay. You need to rest. Because of your ribs, your head, and uh, your magic. We can handle a ghost," 

Andrea stays silent for just a second, before putting on a smile. "Rest sounds nice," she says hoping her tone is as nice as she's trying to make it. "I also have some research I need to do, so time off will come in hand," 

The brothers stare at her, and then Sam stares at his brother. "What?" Dean asks, sounding a little annoyed. 

"Nothing. It's just… she did help with our last ghost," 

"It wasn't a regular ghost, Sam," Dean shoots back.

Feeling the tension, and wanting to avoid an argument, she smiles, shaking her head, dismissively. "Look, you guys go fight, kill, or whatever it is you hunters do with ghosts, and I'll sit tight getting better and looking into some stuff I found the other day. You can call me if you need me, Sam," 

"Yes, Sam," Dean echoes and she doesn't miss the hard stare he gives his brother. "We'll call her if we need her," he pauses, standing up. "Finish your coffee and go pack your stuff. I'll check the guns and supplies. We leave in half an hour," As he walks out of the kitchen, Sam isn't sure of what just happened. 

"Is everything okay?" He asks Andrea. 

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" She asks, as if not knowing anything. Standing up, she washes her mug and mumbling something about needing to step outside for a smoke, she leaves him alone too. 

No longer concerned about Sam or whatever, Andrea leaves the house and walks straight to where the Impala is parked, a few meters away from the house. Dean is by the trunk, doing something with salt and bullets she can't name. 

"Can I talk to you?" She asks once she's close enough, startling him and making him drop a shell and get salt everywhere. "Why are you benching me?" 

"Because you're hurt and you need to recover," he shoots back, not hesitating.

"I'm not some porcelain doll, Dean. I'm fine," 

He stares at her. "Really? How about we go back inside and you grab some stuff from the cabinets?" She seems puzzled by his words, and he explains. "I know it hurt when you grabbed the mug. I saw it. How bad is it?"

Truth be told, the last effects of her spell are wearing off, and she is due for another one or some painkillers very soon. Still, she lies. "Not bad,"

"Yeah, right," he answers unconvinced. "You're staying and that's final. We'll call if we need you," 

Andrea stares at him for a long moment, considering his words and his attitude, and after a second, something else crosses her mind, and she speaks again, her voice lower. “I just hope you’re not letting, uh, let's say, uh, pleasure get in the way of business, ‘cause that would just be bad form,” 

Her blunt words and straight to business approach knocks him over a little, and Dean needs a moment to organize his thoughts. “You staying back has nothing to do with last night,” he manages to say a second later, lying.

Andrea keeps staring at him. “Good, because last night was just sex," she pauses, changing her posture. "I have a rule regarding sex with people I do business with, but I was just too drunk to be rational last night. So, I hope you and I can be adults about it and not let it get in the way of our agreement,” 

"Our agreement doesn't change, but right now you're too much of a deadweight to actually fulfill it. Stay, rest. Keep your magic for when we actually need it. Okay?"

Deciding not to let his words get to her, Andrea just nods. “Fine. I’ll leave you to it. Have a safe trip,” 

With that she walks away, leaving him alone again. The whole conversation had both surprised and annoyed him, but thinking about it, Dean feels some kind of relief. To be honest, he had been worried that their hook-up from last night would make things weird between them, and he _had_ suggested her staying behind not only because of her injuries but also because he needed some time to think. However, hearing her say it was just sex, and speak of it so nonchalantly, removed those concerns from his mind. 

After finishing the salt-rounds, he goes back inside the house. Sam’s in the living room, putting something inside his bag, and Andrea’s on the couch, her bag by her feet and her grimoire on her lap.

“What are you researching?” Dean asks after a moment.

Andrea looks up from her spellbook. “Dark magic. Killing spells, if you need specifics,” she replies in a normal voice as if she's talking about anything else, and for a second, he sees a witch sitting there and not the weird chick that had been helping them lately. 

“Oh, uh, don’t want to bother you,” He replies, and the weirdness is clear in his voice. “We should get going, Sammy,” 

They say their goodbyes, and just as they leave the house, Dean shakes his head. “That was creepy,” he comments, getting inside the car. 

“Dean,” Sam says, shutting the door. “Andrea’s a witch,” he says in a half confused tone. “Witches do all kinds of magic and spells. Besides, she's looking for a way to kill Lilith. You shouldn’t be surprised,” 

Snorting, he nods, “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” 

As he starts the car, Sam speaks again. “Uh, what’s going on between the two of you?” 

“What? What are you talking about?” Dean retorts, sounding and looking puzzled. 

“That,” Sam replies, pointing at him, “Your reaction just now, and the, uh, tension during breakfast? And then she went outside, and came back looking weird as well,”

Shaking his head, Dean sets his eyes on the road ahead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing going on. She went outside ‘cause she was pissed about staying behind. Now, stop talking nonsense, and grab those infos Bobby gave us, uh?” 

A few hours after the boys have left, although tired, Andrea is restless. So far she hasn't found anything and tired of sitting in the same place for such a long time, she decides to go out for a walk. After changing into some workout clothes and letting Bobby know where she's going, she leaves. 

The salvage yard is outside of town, with nothing around for a couple of miles, and the quietness disturbs her. She likes noise, conversation, people, cars because it all distracts her from her thoughts. The silence, on the other hand, screamed things she'd rather forget. She picks up the pace as much as her ribs allow her, and jogs the next mile or so. When she reaches the town, Andrea goes to a park, where she sits on a bench, needing to rest for a moment. 

Watching the children playing around with parents and pets, she remembers a time when all she wanted was just to have a normal family, be a normal child, teenager. Nowadays she'd resigned to the cards life had dealt her, and she tried not to think too much about the things she would never have, but now and then, moments like this would come and leave her thoughtful.

"Hi!" Andrea jumps, startled at the loud and bright voice. Looking to her side, she sees a cute blonde girl, around seven or eight years old, smiling.

"Oh! Hi," she replies, smiling back. "You scared me, missy," The little girl smiles, in a cute and naughty way that makes Andrea smile too.

"You are very pretty," the girl says.

"Why, thank you. You are very pretty too," 

"Is it your first time in the park?" The child asks, and when Andrea looks at her again, she continues. "I come to play _eeeevery_ day, because I love the swings and the big slide and the trees, and I never saw you here,"

Smiling again, Andrea replies. "Yes, it's my first time. But since it's such a nice park, with swings and the big slide, I'll probably come back,"

At her words, the girl laughs. "You're silly! The swings and the slide are just for kids, not for grown-ups!"

Andrea laughs too. "You got me there, but it's a great park anyways," 

"Yes, it is," The girl replies.

After a moment, she gets up, at the same time as a woman approaches them.

"There you are, Ellie!" She tells the girl. "You can't just disappear like this, young lady," The girl, Ellie, pouts, making a face. And the woman, most likely her mother, turns to Andrea. "I hope she didn't bother you,"

"Oh, no, she's a great kid," At that Ellie smiles brightly.

"Thank you," The mother says, extending her hand to her daughter. "Let's go, honey, say goodbye,"

"Bye, Ellie," Andrea says, waving. "It was a pleasure meeting you,"

Smiling, the girl waves back. "Bye-bye, Andrea!"

After they leave, Andrea stays on the bench, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on her skin. It's only when the wind starts to get colder that she decides to make her way back before the sun goes down, knowing the dangers that could come with nightfall. 

Back at Bobby's, she takes a shower and goes straight to where she'd stopped on her research. 

Hours later, the hunter is about to go to sleep, after having had a full day, when he sees Andrea on the living room floor. She seems tense and deeply concentrated on whatever it is she's reading on her grimoire. 

"You okay, girl?" 

Andrea looks up, and he sees the tiredness in her face. 

"Yeah, I'm just struggling to find what I need," she replies with a polite smile. 

"Need any help?" He offers. Surprise appears on her face. 

"You sure?" She questions. "I'm not exactly researching herbal potions here, Bobby, and from what I've been seeing, you hunters tend to get squirmy around heavy witchcraft," 

Shaking his head, Bobby walks to the couch and sits by her side. "I'm not the sensible type. Go ahead. What are you looking for?"

Andrea blinks, again surprised, but deciding to accept his help. "I'm looking for a spell that can kill Lilith, uh, I have quite a few options here, but my issue is finding one that will work on the demon itself, and not just damage or kill the human body she's in, you know?"

"Sounds interesting," Bobby says, standing up. "Show me your research so I can know where to start, and I'll hit the books I have here. Two brains are always better than one," 

Smiling, Andrea grabs the thick notebook on the floor. "Here," she starts, handing it to him. "As I read through my family's grimoire, I make notes there. That's all I found so far,"

Taking her notes, Bobby sits on his desk and starts reading from the beginning. Andrea's annotations are rich in details, and he can't help but be somewhat amazed.

"You've got quite a lot in here," he tells her after a long moment of reading. "Some of this stuff, this kind of magic, it's not something I've seen before,"

Andrea looks up and smiles. "Our magic is different, uh, your regular witch can do lots of things depending on the power they get from demons, but they're usually tied to more materialistic magic, like hex bags, cursed objects, that sort of thing," she explains. "It's different for soul witches. I can use hex bags and whatever, but my magic is more connected to me, to my intentions. So, whilst other witches focus on, let's say the physical, touchable part of the craft, I was taught to focus on words, emotions, and thoughts," 

Bobby mulls over her words for a second. "Who taught you?" He asks, curious.

His question takes her by surprise, but Andrea recovers quickly, keeping the smile on her face. "Mostly my grandmother. But I also learned a lot from my aunt and uncle," Memories flash through her eyes, but she pushes them away, and with a weird feeling in her chest, she focuses again on the spell she had been reading before Bobby spoke.

Knowing better than to pry, and having noticed the far off look in her eyes, Bobby saves his questions for later.

"This is pointless," Andrea says, hours later, pushing the grimoire away and rubbing her tired eyes. "If there was anything on how to kill a demon here, I'd have found it by now," 

Bobby considers her words for a moment.

"What if we're not looking in the right place?" 

She looks up. "What do you mean?"

"I have some books in the basement, heavy witchcraft stuff as you said before. I don't really use them, but maybe you can find something there," he pauses. "We can look at them in the morning," 

"At this point, I'll look at anything," Andrea says, even though she's not expecting to find much on whatever books Bobby has. 

She has a restless night, filled with weird dreams and nightmares. After her morning routine, Andrea finds Bobby and he takes her downstairs. As he shows her what he has, she is surprised. 

"Where did you get this?" She asks, running her fingers over the covers and pages as he puts book after book in front of her. 

"Over the years, I found stuff during some hunts, and I just bring them back here. I guess I don't like to waste knowledge,"

Bobby doesn't say it, but as she looks at the books, Andrea knows he must have gotten them from witches he'd killed. She never cared for other witches, knowing of their hatred towards her kind, but a small part of her can't help but wonder if they had met under different circumstances, would she have been another one to die and leave nothing but 'knowledge', as he had put it, behind?

"I need to finish the car I'm working on," He tells her after a moment, "but I'll come and help you when I'm done,"

"Don't worry Bobby, thanks," 

Between old and moldy pages, several notes, and the loud music bursting on her ears, Andrea loses track of time completely. Suddenly, a mug appears in front of her.

Looking up, she sees Dean. Removing her headphones, she speaks. "Back already?" 

"It was a simple case," he explains. "Brought you some coffee. Bobby said you've been down here for quite some time,"

"What time is it?" She asks, stretching her back and arms.

"Almost half-past five. The sun just set,"

Groaning, she stretches again, then rubs her eyes. "Jeez, I've been down here all day," 

"Found anything?" Andrea stares at him for a moment, before replying.

"Not really. There's a lot of info here, I'm learning a lot and I've been making a lot of notes, but it's not what I'm looking for,"

Dean nods, thinking for a moment. She waits for him to say something, but he just stands there. "Uh, is there anything else you want?" Andrea finally asks when his standing starts to annoy her, minutes later.

"I, uh… would you like some help?" She senses that wasn't what he wanted to say, but she decided not to say anything.

"Well, I still have to go through this pile over here, so…" she finishes with a shrug. 

Dean nods, and walking out to the hallway, he screams for his brother. When Sam appears on the stairs he smiles. "Andrea needs some help researching spells. Why don't you give her a hand?" 

From where she's sitting, Andrea shakes her head. "So you were volunteering Sam's help and not yours?" She asks laughing. 

"To be fair, he's always been the bright one in the family," as Dean says that, he moves past Sam, patting his shoulder. 

Before the younger Winchester has a chance to argue his brother is going up and out of the basement. He doesn't go after him, knowing that helping Andrea find a way to finish Lilith is their priority right now. As he sits inside the panic room with her, she explains everything she's done so far and then pushes a book to him. Opening the moldy pages, Sam prepares himself for the night that will undoubtedly be long.

A couple of hours later, both Bobby and Dean join them as well, going through the books the older hunter had on witchcraft and magic. 

"Jesus," Dean says a few pages in. "Is this for real?" 

Andrea looks up. "What?" He pushes the book to her, and when she sees it, she laughs.

"Yeah, Dean, it's for real, and it's called sex magic. It's a very powerful type of magic, FYI," The three hunters stare at her, surprised expressions on their faces. "What?" She questions.

"Nothing," they say in unison, and she laughs hard. 

"Men," she complains, shaking her head. 

"Is anyone hungry?" Sam suddenly asks. "I was thinking about going out to grab a bite."

Almost immediately, Dean throws his car keys at his brother. "Bring beer and don't forget to get me some pie," 

Sam turns to Bobby and Andrea. 

"I'm fine with beer," Bobby says. 

"I just need coffee or some energetic drink," she tells him.

Sam nods, grabbing the keys. "I won't be long," 

As he enters the car, Sam texts Ruby, letting her know where he'll meet her. They hadn't met since the showdown with the angels and demons, so he was in desperate need of another dose. 

Ruby is already waiting for him at the motel he'd sent her. She got them a room and as they enter, everything happens fast. He's on her, kissing the demon hard, removing her jacket, and then his. They end up on the bed and after another kiss, she grabs a pocket knife from her waistband and pulling away from him, she cuts a deep line on her wrist and offers it to Sam. 

He doesn't even hesitate. Taking her arm in his large hands, he lowers his head and drinks deeply, drinking her blood as if it was the gods’ elixir.

It's over faster than he thought and they sit there for just a moment.

"So, how's life?" Ruby asks normally as if they hadn't just done what they did. 

"Life's the same. We went on a hunt, now we're helping Andrea do some research," 

Ruby rolls her eyes at the mention of the witch. "Research what? How to be less useless? Not sure you'll ever find that," 

Sam ignores her sarcasm, an idea coming to his mind. "Maybe you can help us. She's looking for a spell that can kill a demon, kill Lilith. Have you ever heard of something like that?"

Surprise fills Ruby, and it takes her a moment to mask it from her face. "Baby Sylvester is aiming high, isn't she?" 

"Come on, Ruby," He asks. "I don't have much longer. Do you know something or not?"

" _I_ never heard of something like that," she pauses, thinking. "I mean, most witches get their powers from demons, so why would a demon allow a witch to prepare a spell that can off them? And why would said witch, get rid of the being that gave her power in the first place? Do you see it? A witch killing a demon doesn't make sense," He nods and she continues. "But I can look for you," 

"That would be great," he says, gratitude appears in his puppy face and the demon can't help but find it amusing and cute.

"Just don't get your hopes up, Sam. You know you're the only one who can kill Lilith,"

Sighing, Sam gets up. "I should go," Ruby nods and he leaves without saying more. 

After waiting a few minutes, just to be sure the hunter was gone, Ruby teleports herself to where she was currently staying. Grabbing a bowl, she quickly and efficiently sets up the ingredients she needs for a spell. Once done, she grabs a jar with the most crucial ingredient - the blood of a human child. The cooper smell fills the room as she pours the blood over the other stuff inside the recipient, and she waits.

A young girl suddenly materializes in the middle of the room, pure evil on her face.

"You better have a good reason to summon me like this, Ruby," she says with a cold and emotionless voice.

"The _anima maga_ is looking for a spell to kill you," Ruby replies quickly, knowing better than to get on the other demon's bad side.

Lilith's face immediately changes. "Is she now?" She asks, and putting a hand on her chin, she starts walking around, deep in thought. 

Ruby just watches in silence. A few minutes tick by until Lilith speaks again. "This is an opportunity, Ruby dear," she says with a demonic smile on her face. "I knew Andrea wouldn't disappoint me," she continues, still thoughtful. Then, she turns to Ruby. "You are going to be a good girl and do exactly what I'm going to tell you,"

When Sam gets a text from Ruby later on the next day, saying she's just outside of Bobby's house, he isn't sure of what to do, knowing very well that Andrea hates her and that even if Dean was currently not hating her as much, there was still no love between them. 

"Uh, guys, Ruby's outside," Everyone looks at him, surprise on their faces. 

"What does she want?" Dean asks.

Looking at Andrea, Sam replies. "I asked for her help. Don't get mad," he quickly adds. "I told her what we are looking for, and I thought that since she's been around for a while, maybe she could know or find something we don't,"

Andrea stares at him for a whole minute, her face blank. "You shouldn't keep her waiting," It's all she says before lowering her head to go back to what she was reading. 

Taking that as a positive sign, he goes outside and brings Ruby in. Unable to enter the panic room, the demon stays by the door. "Have you ever heard of Spirit Trapping?" She asks, looking at Andrea, going straight to the point and not bothering with pleasantries. 

The witch, however, doesn't say anything, not even looking up from the book in front of her. Sam, Bobby, and Dean stare at them for a moment. 

Annoyed, Ruby snaps. "Oy, I'm talking to you, special needs," 

At that, Andrea finally looks up. "Why would I trust, or even hear anything you say?"

"Because if I wanted to screw you over, I would have delivered you to Lilith myself a long time ago," The demon shots back. "I'm not your enemy, dumbass,"

"Ruby's not going to hurt you, Andrea," Sam says. "She's here to help us," 

For a moment Andrea considers everything they say, and everything she's been through this past couple of months. She had always been told not to trust hunters because they were the enemy. However, after getting to know them and having stayed with them, she knew they weren't the enemy and they weren't evil. Could it be that the same would happen with Ruby? She couldn't say.

Sighing, she looks at the demon. "You said Spirit Trapping?" 

Ruby gives her a dry smile. "Yes. It's a spell that can lock a spirit inside a body," Andrea can see exactly where she's going in her reasoning, and she mentally kicks herself for not thinking about it before.

"Demons are in their essence, spirits," The witch says, thinking. "If Lilith's locked inside a body, we could, in theory, kill her," she pauses, looking up. "It could work,"

Dean studies her face. "Are you sure?"

Andrea nods. "At least in theory, yeah. I think it could work," 

"That's great," Sam comments, happy. "What do you need for the spell?"

"Ingredients vary, but she'll need a massive amount of magic," Ruby replies. "I mean, locking a regular spirit inside a body is already a hardcore spell. We're talking about locking a centuries-old demonic spirit, so…" she trails off, and Andrea feels a chill run down her spine. 

Feeling the eyes of the three hunters on her, she voices her decision. "It doesn't matter. I'll do it,"

"How exactly are we going to do this?" Bobby says, talking for the first time. 

"First things first, I need to find the right spell to use," Andrea pauses, sighing. "And that means I need to go back home,"

"Home?" Bobby asks.

"Yeah, home. Salem, Massachusetts," she adds, a bit sarcastically. "And I'll need your help. Salem is what witches call a power place. There's something about the, uh magical energy there, that makes it attractive to witches, so there's always a lot of them there. If you recall, regular witches hate my kind, and demons are hunting me as well, so for starters, I need you to come with me, for, uh, let's say, security purposes," 

The hunters exchange a brief look, but Dean's answer is almost instant. "Count us in, Andrea," 

She offers him a smile and stands up. "I'm gonna go pack my stuff. The faster we go, the faster we can get this over with,"


	9. Yes, you can trust me, Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm terribly sorry for the month-long hiatus, but holidays with the fam plus writing a masters dissertation makes writing fanfic a tad complicated. I'm back now, and the posting schedule is gonna get regular again.
> 
> Thank you so much for your kudos, comments, and bookmarks. They fuel my creativity.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

The drive to Salem is a long one, and they do it in two parts, stopping halfway to rest, before continuing. When they reach the _Entering Salem, MA_ sign, the sun is setting. 

Dean follows Andrea's instructions through the town, and then through some woods, until they get to an old, large, and weird-looking gates, in the middle of the road. As he stops the car, she gets out, grabbing her backpack, without saying a thing. 

They exchange a brief look, before doing the same, and walking a few steps, they stand behind her. "Andrea? What are you doing?" Sam asks as he sees her grabbing her pocket knife. 

"There's a barrier spell around all of the property. My blood is the only way through," she explains quickly and turns her attention back to the knife. She slashes her left palm, and closing her hand shut, Andrea lets the blood fall on the ground. The brothers notice her saying something under her breath, and less than a second later, they see the air above the gates tremble, waving in a way that looks like some special effects of a movie. "There," she declares, standing up. "All done," Andrea waves her bleeding hand, and the gates open on their own. 

It takes them a moment to follow her inside the car, still amazed at what they saw. Dean drives in, and just as they enter, the gates slam shut.

Dean drives for a couple of minutes before stopping the Impala in front of an old, but still beautiful colonial mansion. "Is this your house?" He asks, surprised. 

Andrea smiles, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes. "This is my family’s house, not mine,” she corrects quietly. “But yeah, home sweet home," sighing, she gets out. "So," she continues as they get out of the car. "Fair warning, there's a resident ghost in the house, but he's pretty much harmless," 

"Resident ghost?" Dean echoes in disbelief. 

Andrea nods and smiles again. "Well, witches have lived here for centuries. Any respectful witch house has gotta be haunted. Or at least, that's what my grandmother used to say, so come on in," muttering another spell, the door opens up and they walk inside. 

If the outside was surprising, the inside is impressive, and the brothers feel as if they'd stepped into those houses where movies about the colonial south era are filmed. From the entrance, they can see two other doors and notice the large white sheets thrown over the furniture. There are other doors down the hallway parallel to the stairs, and Dean wonders just how big this house is. 

While they stand there, looking around somewhat dazzled, Andrea carelessly throws her backpack on the floor, and all but kicks off her combat boots, leaving them muddy on the pristine carpet. 

Before anyone can say anything, the room's temperature drops, and their breaths become visible. Dean and Sam immediately tense up, looking around worriedly. Just as Andrea takes a step forward, an annoyed expression on her face, a translucent form appears in the middle of the room, and the lights start flickering. 

"Go away," she tells the ghost. The form flicks again, a vicious expression on its face as the ghost stares at her. Suddenly, all the doors and windows start shaking, opening and closing repeatedly, in a clear and rather strong poltergeist. “Drop the show, Marco. You don’t scare me anymore,” Andrea replies. “Leave now, before I make you,” Again, the form flickers, and the boys notice the expression of pure hatred on its face. She raises her hand towards the ghost, and a moment later, the form disappears and the temperature goes back to normal. 

Andrea offers them a smile. "Sorry about that,”

“Uh, this resident ghost of yours doesn’t like you very much, does it?” Dean asks her, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened. 

“That’s an understatement,” she pauses, thinking. “Uh, why don't you make yourselves comfortable in the living room while I go and prepare the rooms upstairs? I'm sure you're tired from the long drive. We can start the research in the morning," 

They don't really have a chance to say anything, because she's already going upstairs, leaving them standing there. 

"Is it just me or she's weird since deciding to come here?" Dean asks, grabbing his bag from the floor and walking to the room Andrea had pointed at in her hurry. 

Sam grabs his own bag, thinking. "There's definitely something going on with her,"

In the living room, although all of the furniture is covered with large white clothes, there are still several pictures and paintings on the walls. Curious to know more about Andrea's family, Sam and Dean walk around, looking at the frames. 

Most are old and individual portraits from different women, and others are just artistic and somewhat mystical paintings with weird drawings and symbols. However, right in the middle of the fireplace wall, is a large family portrait, a photograph. There are five people there, an old woman with a stern face is right in the middle, a little more forward, on her right, is a man, and in front of him is a young boy. On her right is a woman, and in front of her is a pre-teen girl, who looks just like-- "Dean, check this out," 

Dean walks up to Sam and stares at the photo. "Is that Andrea?" He asks, staring at the girl with long curly brunette hair. 

"I know," Andrea says from behind them. "The curly hair did not favor me, but it took me some time to figure that out," Walking closer, she continues. "That's my grandmother Agnes, my uncle Aldo, my aunt Joan and their son, Finn," Her face is neutral as she says their names, but something in her voice tells them this isn't easy for her. "So, there's a lot of dust everywhere, but the rooms are ready," she says, changing the subject. 

Sam and Dean follow her to the first floor, where two doors are opened, lights on. "There are clean sheets and towels on the wardrobe. They might smell a little moldy, but they're clean," Andrea explains. "Uh, what else?" She says more to herself. "Oh, yes, the bathrooms. Feel free to use all of them, even the ones upstairs. I guess that's all. Just yell if you guys need anything, ok?" 

Yet again, Andrea leaves them standing there and goes to the second floor, without waiting for a reply. 

Sam shakes his head, but doesn't say anything as he enters one of the rooms, and grabs his things to take a shower. As soon as he's inside the bathroom, Dean goes after Andrea. 

As he climbs upstairs, he notices there's an open door by the end of the dark hallway, from where the only light on the entire floor is coming from. He walks to it, and he sees Andrea standing in the middle of the room, holding a frame. Walking closer, Dean manages to see that it's a photo of a younger Andrea and a man. He can't really see details from where he is, but he can see her face. It has a weird expression, as if she's about to cry, something he had never seen her do since they met. 

"Hey," Dean starts, getting her attention. "Are you okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Andrea turns to look at him. "Yes," then she shakes her head. "No. I… I don't know," she shrugs, running a hand over her face. 

"Is it because of the picture you're just holding?" He asks tentatively, knowing well he's prying on her personal life. 

Andrea nods, looking at the photo in her hands again. "It's a photo of something that never came to be anything, it just makes me…" _Sad, lonely, hopeless,_ her inner voice says in her head, but she completes with something else. "...thoughtful, I guess. I… I haven't been back here in a long time, and it's just… complicated. I guess it's a place with too many memories,"

For a moment, Dean remembers the time he and Sam had gone back to Lawrence, back when they were looking for their father. It hadn't been the same thing, but he could understand what she was going through. "Wanna talk about it?"

There's a brief pause, and she looks as if she's thinking about it, but then her eyes are attracted to the picture in her hands and Andrea shakes her head. “Not really, but, uh, thanks for the offer,” she says, turning away from him, and Dean pretends not to notice how she wipes her eyes. 

“Okay, we’ll be downstairs if you need anything,” she just nods, not looking at him as he leaves. 

Early in the morning, Sam finds Andrea in the kitchen. She looks fresh out of a shower, hair wet and loose as she drinks something from a mug, and he notices grocery bags near the back door. 

“Morning,” he says, announcing himself. "You went to town?"

“Hey, Sam,” as she turns around, he notices the bag under her eyes and the tired expression on her face. “We had no food in here and I couldn't let you boys starve, could I? Sleep well?” 

He laughs and nods. “Yeah, the bed’s great. How about you?” 

“I never sleep well in here,” she replies, taking another sip of whatever’s in her mug. “Nightmares torment me most nights, and last night wasn't an exception. Hopefully, we’ll be gone soon,” Andrea sets her mug on the sink. “I was just about to make some coffee," she states, going to grab the groceries. 

"Coffee sounds great," Sam replies. 

They have just sat down to eat the eggs and bacon she had also bought when Dean walks in. Andrea waits until they're all done, before leading them to the library, so they can start searching the spell she needs.

"What are we looking for?" Dean asks, staring at the four walls, filled from the ground to the ceiling in books. 

"According to Ruby we might find something in the witchcraft from Northern Europe, which is on that shelf," she says, pointing at the shelf near the window. "My initial research also said something about South American magic. If I still remember correctly, South America is there," she points at the shelf straight in front of the door. "I'll also check the old grimoires we have, just to be sure," 

"Sounds like a plan," Dean says, nodding. "I can look at South America, and Sam can check Europe while you do the grimoires," 

The library is quite large, the result of many contributions over the years, so the hours go by without them noticing it. 

At some point, they stop to eat and go right back to their research. They keep going until tiredness becomes a problem and Andrea insists they go to bed and rest, claiming both of them will be useless if they can't think straight. After they go to bed, she stays in the library, still halfway through the grimoires. 

It's the middle of the night when Sam's phone rings. 

"Hello?" He asks with a sleepy voice. 

_"Sam, are you and Dean still in Salem?"_ Ruby questions and the urgency in her voice wakes him up completely.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

_"You need to get out of there, now. Lilith knows Andrea's there and she sent a horde of demons after her,"_

In a second, Sam's out of the bed, grabbing his things.

"How fast can you get here?"

_"I'm already on my way, but you need to grab Dean and get the hell out of there!"_

He doesn't say anything and hangs up. Putting his t-shirt on, Sam goes to Dean's room. 

"Dean," He only needs to call once and his brother wakes up immediately, fully alert. "Get up. Demons are coming after Andrea. We need to get out of here, now,"

Without questioning, Dean gets up and while Sam is grabbing his things, he goes upstairs and knocks on Andrea's door. When she doesn't reply, he opens up the door, only to find the room empty. 

"She's not upstairs," he tells Sam, already walking to the stairs. 

Thankfully, they find her in the library, in the same place, still reading. 

Upon seeing them in the double doors, Andrea immediately senses something is wrong. 

"What's going on?" She asks, standing up too. 

"We need to get out of here. Demons are coming," Sam replies. 

It takes Andrea a second to process what he said, as fear ran cold down her spine. "Demons? Are you sure?" 

"Ruby said Lilith knows you're back here and they're coming for you."

Through the fear that has a tight grip on her heart, a light shines in her mind. "The barrier," she says after a moment. "T-they can't go past the protective barrier. We'll be safe, and, and I can still try to find the spell we need,"

The brothers exchange a look, silently considering her words. "Are you sure that protection spell can hold them?" Dean asks. Andrea nods. 

"But what if they just sit and wait for us to leave?" Sam questions. "Barrier or not, we'll be sitting ducks,"

"If the protection holds them back we'll have time to get ready for them. Holy water, an exorcism in Baby's speakers… we can make it work," Sam stares at his brother, not confident that this plan of his can work. 

"We should leave while we still can," the younger Winchester argues. "We can find another way to find the spell. Hell, we can take your books with us if you want. But we should go," 

"Too late for that, Sam," Ruby replies, materializing in the middle of the room. 

Upon seeing the demon, Andrea's legs all but fail under her and if not for the table, she would have fallen. "H-how?" She manages to ask, struggling to focus due to her ever-growing heartbeat. 

The demon studies her for an instant, not sure of what she's asking. Dean, understating, voices her concerns.

"How did you get through the protection spell around the property?" 

Ruby's eyes widen. "A protection spell? Oh, so that's what tickled me when I got here. Sorry to inform you, but whatever spell you did, it's not working. What a shocker,"

The demon's sarcasm annoys Andrea enough to snap her out of the fear. "I didn't do anything. That spell is as old as this house, maybe older. It was done by an ancestor of mine, and it has been reinforced by every generation. The only way through it is with my blood. It can't fail!" 

Ruby pretends to consider her words for a moment before realization appears on her face. "You're not linked, are you?"

Dean and Sam don't understand most of the witchcraft lingo they're using, but they see how pale Andrea gets with Ruby's question. When she doesn't reply, Dean speaks up. 

"Care to translate to the non-witches and non-demon bitches?" 

Ignoring his jab, Ruby explains. "Being linked is another way of saying belonging to a coven. When a witch is connected to other witches, their power gets stronger because it allows them to tap into different magic than their own. The magic from the coven is fortified by the blood of the participants and it only gets stronger over time, giving them room to do incredible stuff. When a witch is not linked to a coven, they can't access the, let's say, communal magic, which makes them weak and vulnerable," 

Sam looks at Andrea, who remains silent, before turning to Ruby. "What does that mean to us, Ruby?"

"It means that when Andrea here, bleed on the barrier, seeing as she has no link to her family's magic, she interfered with the spell, rendering it useless. I got through and so will every demon Lilith is sending our way as we stay here talking about magic," 

Dean runs a hand through his face, holding back a groan. "Demons are coming, fine. We got it. What I don't get is how Andrea made the spell weaker if she has the same blood and the same magic as the rest of her family,"

Ruby looks at Andrea. "Do you mind giving this next lesson, or should I continue?" Andrea looks up at her, venom in her eyes, and doesn't respond. "Fine, I'll continue then. Being part of a coven, even a family coven, isn't something automatic. It takes a whole ritual, and the initiate has to fulfill some requirements before becoming part of the coven. I guess, that Andrea never did it, or she did and manage to screw it up,"

"I didn't screw it up," Andrea finally says, in a quiet voice. "I never did it. I never wanted to. I never wanted any of this!" She finishes almost screaming.

They all see how on edge she is, so Dean takes the front, and taking a step closer, he speaks. "What didn't you want?"

Andrea looks up, tears shining in her eyes. "All of it. I never wanted to be a witch. I didn't ask for these powers and, and I never asked for this curse! All I wanted was to be normal!" She pauses, furiously wiping away the tears that started filling her eyes. "All I wanted was a way out, so I ran. The first opportunity I got, I ran from this place, from my family and I never looked back. That's why I never did the coven ritual. Still, no matter how far I went, I never really escaped this… This curse and my magic took everything from me," Feeling vulnerable in a way she hadn't felt in a long time, Andrea turns away from them, not wanting them to see her like this. 

A wave of sympathy hits Sam, as he, other than anyone in the room, understands exactly what she's saying. "I'm sorry, Andrea," he says after a moment. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that," 

Annoyed at the excess of heart feelings in the room, Ruby clears her throat. "Sorry to interrupt this uh, heartbreaking moment, but we still need to get the hell out of here," Sam gives Ruby a pointed look, but she shrugs, giving him a stare. "You know I'm right," she mouths soundlessly. 

"Guys," he says to Dean and Andrea. "Ruby's got a point. We need to go,"

Dean hates it, but he knows Sam's right. They're leaving empty-handed and all of this has been for nothing, but at least they'll leave safely. Taking a step closer to Andrea, he gently puts a hand on the back of her shoulder. "We'll find another way to get the spell," 

"What?" Ruby says from her place. "You didn't find the spell?!" She asks outraged. "You've been here for two fucking days! What were the three of you doing all this time?! We can't leave without that spell!" Sam gives her another look, but this time, the demon doesn't stop. "Don't give me that look, Sam. You know I'm right! We need the spell to stop Lilith from jumping to another body, and once she's trapped, you use your powers to kill her. That's the plan. Or, we have door number two, which is game over," the demon suddenly stops and looks at the witch. "Unless… unless she does the coven ritual. If you do it, you can bring the barrier up and buy us time to find the spell,"

"No." Andrea says in a loud and firm voice. 

"What do you mean 'no'?" Ruby retorts.

"No is no," Andrea replies, turning around with a determined face. "I won't link myself to my family and that's final."

"Great. Well, seeing as you won't do anything, how about you stay here then and die?" Ruby responds, raising her voice and tone. 

"Knock it off, Ruby!" Dean exclaims, coming to stand in the middle of the two, just as a precaution. 

"I didn't say I won't do anything. I just said I won't do the coven ritual," taking another deep breath, she continues. "I have an idea. If the three of you can buy me some time, I'm going to find the spell."

"How?" Sam asks, not sure about any of this. 

"I'm going to do a séance, and talk to someone who will know exactly where I can find the spell," 

At her words, Dean hesitates. He looks at her and then at Sam and Ruby and he needs a second. Finally, he turns to Andrea and walks to stand in front of her. "You sure you can do this?"

Andrea sees the doubt in his eyes, and breathing again, she nods. "Yes. You can trust me, Dean,"

That's all he needs to nod back and turn to his brother and his demonic girlfriend. "Alright. Let's do this. We need salt, holy water, the usual. You two get what we need from Baby, I'll start with the holy water and the devil's traps,"

When Sam starts moving, Ruby touches his arm stopping him. "Are you serious?" She asks Dean.

"You can always leave if you're not happy," the older Winchester challenges, but instead of replying, Ruby just shakes her head and follows Sam outside. 

Alone, Dean looks at Andrea again. "What do you need?"

His tone is all business and she replies immediately. "Candles and an object that belonged to the person I want to talk to," she pauses. "I need to go into the basement for the last thing. Can you come with me?" 

Even though her request surprises him, he nods and follows her through the house to the kitchen, where under the rug is a trap door. Before she can ask, he's already pulling the door open, revealing a set of long stairs down. Just on the top of them is a switch, and turning on the lights, Andrea walks downstairs. 

The basement is quite large, and Dean's pretty sure it covers the entirety of the house. The place is filled with boxes and hangers and shelves with more books and jars with things he can't name inside. She walks further and on the farthest end of the room, is a pile of boxes that's separated from the rest. He sees her hesitating to reach it and can't help but ask, "Who'll you, uh, contact?"

Andrea sighs. "The guy in the photo I have in my room, his name was Ellis. He was my grandmother's, uh, assistant. I met him in the library, actually. I was sixteen and rebellious and he was the cute new and a little older than me guy. Ellis used to spend most of his time in the library. He knows everything in there, so I'm hoping he can tell us where to find what we need," with that, she walks to the boxes, and opens the first one. After rummaging through, Andrea takes a leather-covered book. "This was his notebook," she says with a sad smile on her face. 

"Do you mind if I ask how he died?" Dean asks, letting his curiosity get the best of him.

"A hex bag. He was murdered. Since he was under my grandmother's wing, as a young warlock learning the craft, we thought it was the work of an enemy coven or a witch with a grudge, sending a message. No one never found out who did it, though,"

"I'm sorry for your loss," he says. Andrea knows comforting isn't Dean's forte, but she appreciates the attempt, anyway.

"It was a long time ago, Dean. But thank you,"

Dean nods. "No problem,” he says, looking at her. Andrea stares back and for a moment, she feels a weird need to tell him more, to hear what he might have to say about her screwed up life, but just as she’s stopping herself from opening up, Dean continues. “We should get going," 

“Yeah, we should,” she replies, hurrying out of the memory-haunted basement. 

In the library, Sam and Ruby have prepared most of the things they’ll need. “I got more chalk and spray for the devil traps,” he tells his brother as they enter the room. 

“I get started on that,” Dean replies, grabbing the spray can. 

“I’ll help,” Sam says. Dean stops for a second, realizing that Sam’s offer means Andrea and Ruby will be alone. 

“Nah, Ruby can help me. You stay here and watch Andrea,” His words make the witch roll her eyes. 

“I’m not a baby, Dean,” she says out of habit. He shakes his head, holding back a smile at her comeback, and walks away. 

As Andrea starts lighting candles, Sam comes to help her. “Where do you want them?”

“They’re fine where they are, all over the room. While you do that, I set these big ones here to form a circle in the middle of the floor. Lighting candles is also a way to salute the dead, and uh, appease their souls, and I’ll need all the appeasing I can get,” they continue in silence until they finish, and Andrea walks to the candle circle. “I’m gonna get started, Sam,”

The younger Winchester stares at her with curiosity-filled eyes and nods. “Okay,”

“You mustn’t interrupt me, or break the circle, ok? No matter what you see. Séances can get quite, uh, eventful depending on the spirit being called,” she tries to smile at the end, but Sam doesn’t miss the reluctance in her eyes. 

“It’ll be okay, Andrea,”

She smiles again, before closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. Andrea sets her hands on Ellis' notebook, focusing on him, on the memories she has of him, memories she struggled so much to hide in the deepest corners of her mind, his face, his manners, his voice. Once she feels she’s gripped him tight on her mind, she begins chanting. “ _Phasmatos manex, un domo fax, fero audivex. Phasmatos manex, un domo fax, fero audivex. Phasmatos manex, un domo fax, fero audivex…”_

She feels the exact moment the spell works, and opening her eyes, the library around her has changed, and Sam is nowhere to be found. Suddenly she sees something moving in the corner of her eye, and without leaving the circle, she stands up, to look around. 

“Ellis? Is that you?” She asks slowly. 

She doesn’t see anything, but then she feels something weird on her chest. Turning around, she all but jumps at the sight of the deceased face of the first and perhaps only person she ever loved, Ellis. He looks like himself, only translucid and way too pale. "Ellis?"

Ellis' spirit blinks, of all things, something so human and natural that aches in Andrea's chest. 

"Damn it, Rea," He curses, but beyond the anger, his face shows concern. "I told you to never come back here!" 

"I know," she replies softly. "But I really need your help, El."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up next week!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Then we're screwed up big time, Sam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's the new chapter.   
> Enjoy!

* * *

Immediately, Ellis' expression changes. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

For a moment Andrea wishes she could sit here and tell him everything, but she knows that time, as usual, is not on her side, so she just jumps straight into it. "Uh, long story short, I need a spirit trapping spell strong enough to trap a demon inside a human body, stopping it from smoking out,"

Surprise and sadness appear in his brown eyes. "A demon? I see that you didn't get the normal human life you told me you would get,"

The disappointment in his face is clear, but the surprise has faded as if he'd already expected this, which hurts her a little. "Oh, Ellis," she replies, wishing that she could hold his hand. "No, I… I didn't get it," There's no sense in lying. "But I'm still working on it," she says trying to make her voice hopeful, but his face tells her she didn't succeed. "I promise," She pauses, forcing her feelings back so as to not get distracted. "If you help me find this spell, I'll be one step closer to leaving all of this behind for good,"

Ellis nods. "Ok, go on," he says, still sounding unconvinced.

"I've been looking at South American and Northern European magic, but I haven't found anything yet,"

"You're looking in the wrong places, Rea," he answers almost immediately. "I mean, not all wrong, you'd come by something at some point, but a possible solution has been right under your nose all this time, the magic your ancestor Marie used to trap Marco's spirit in your family house. The same thing can work for what you want,"

Andrea blinks for a moment, struggling for a second to accept what he's saying. "Are you sure, El? Look I… I'm trying to trap this high profile demon bitch. The thing is powerful. Something simple won't work,"

"Who said what crazy Marie did was simple? That spell of hers is complex and really powerful. Besides, what is the human body if not a house for the human soul? With the proper alterations, like specific reinforcements for a demon, maybe throw in a few protection runes just to be sure. It could work, Rea,"

She considers his words for a brief moment, and as everything becomes clear in her mind, a smile appears on her face. "You are too bright for your own good, Ellis Bishop," her words are spoken in a joke, but a shadow crosses his face when he replies.

"Don't I know it?" Immediately, Andrea feels her chest tightening, knowing what he's talking about.

"I know you told me not to, and I know I said I wouldn't, but once this is over and before I go and get that happy human life we always wanted, I will find out who did this to you, El, you have my word," she says vehemently.

"Stop, Rea!" He answers in the same angry tone he used upon seeing her this time. "You can't give your word lightly and I don't want to be the reason why you live less than you deserve to! Please, just… just drop this. I'm dead already. Finding the responsible won't bring me back,"

"But it will bring you peace!" She screams back, never having liked being reprimanded for no reason. "It can free you from this plane! You can move on!"

"Being free and moving on are not worth your life, Andrea! You shouldn't even be he-" He's cut off when Andrea doubles down, groaning in pain. "Rea? Rea?" He calls desperately.

The pain in her abdomen is sharp and it leaves her breathless, unable to answer. Suddenly, something warm fills her hands, and looking down, she sees blood. "E-Ellis?" she whispers, looking at him.

"This is happening in your plane, Rea. You have to end the spell right now!" She looks at him again, hesitating. There was so much she wanted to tell him. "End it, Rea! Get out of here!"

Focusing as much as she can, Andrea closes her eyes, breaking the connection to the spiritual prison that holds Ellis' soul. She returns to her body and the pain increases tenfold. Upon opening her eyes, she sees a man and a woman standing over her. The man is holding a kitchen knife and the woman is grinning maniacally. "Told ya it would work," the woman says as her eyes flash black. "Pick her up, let's make a show out of this."

As the man reaches her and raises her body, the blinding pain makes Andrea pass out.

_Twenty minutes before…_

The last time they had been in such a situation was back in Monument, Colorado. Like the precinct had been then, the house was now surrounded by demons, and they had no way out. Dean wasn't really sure of how they had gotten here. One minute they had finished the devil traps all over the ridiculous huge house and were staring at an in-trance Andrea, and on the next, Ruby was getting desperate at feeling the demonic army arriving. And an army it was indeed. They could try to get through them, but their chances were slim.

Cas, you son of a bitch, we need your help! Dean screamed inside his head, hoping the angel would hear him.

"Just give us the _anima maga_ , Winchester," the demon standing by the now destroyed front door said. "If you give her up, we'll leave and it'll be as if nothing had happened,"

"Go back to hell, you son of a bitch!" He replied, throwing holy water at the demon and making it hiss in pain at the burn of her face.

"When I get in there, I'll make you pay for this,"

Walking back to the library, Dean saw Sam standing by the door. "Anything?"

"Nothing. She's still in the same way," The younger Winchester sighs. "What are we going to do, Dean? We can hold them back, but how long until they find a way in, or worse, a way to make us leave? We won't stand a chance against a horde of demons,"

Running a hand through his face, Dean nods. "I know, Sam, I know,"

"Have you called Cas?"

"I've been screaming my head off, but he hasn't replied,"

A whoosh sound makes them look around, and they're surprised to see Uriel standing there. "Castiel has not replied and neither will he. This is not our problem, mud monkey,"

"You son of a bitch. Those demons will get in, and we both know they'll kill everyone in their way. Where does that leave your godly plan, uh?" Dean dares, standing proud in front of the angel.

Much to their annoyance, Uriel laughs. "I can take you from here in less than a second if necessary,"

"What about everyone else?"

"Everyone else?" The angel echoes in disdain. "You mean a demon, a pagan witch and your demon-blood tainted brother? They are not my problem. Do not bother us again," With, he vanishes in front of them, leaving Dean to kick the wall in frustration.

"Goddamnit!"

"What do we do now?" Sam asks quietly.

"We need Andrea. Tell Ruby to wake her up, break that spell, I don't know. We need her. Maybe one of her tricks can help us get rid of those bitches outside,"

"What if we can't wake Andrea up?" Sam questions with dread in his voice. Dean looks at his brother, a concerned expression in his eyes.

"Then we're screwed up big time, Sam,"

They walk back to where Andrea and Ruby are. The demon is on edge. "I don't know why we just don't give her up and walk out of here," she says shrugging.

"Do you honestly believe those demons will let us out?" Dean retorts, having had enough of her.

"Lilith doesn't want you. Your angel pals can get you out if something happens, and between me and my knife, and Sam and his powers, we could make a run for it," Instead of arguing with her as they had done for the past minutes, Dean takes another approach.

"If I'm not mistaken, Lilith was still pissed at you. Why don't we give you up for her? Would you like that?"

"Guys, this isn't helpi-" Sam's words are cut off by a loud crashing sound.

"They're inside," Ruby tells them in an ominous voice, grabbing her knife.

The boys get what they can, and when the demons appear, they do get a few punches and kicks in, even managing to exorcise one or two demons, but in the end, it's just not enough. There are too many of them.

The demon from the door makes her way through the horde, coming to stand in front of them. She watches with glee as others hold the Winchester and the bitch Ruby down. Every bruise and scrape makes her glow with happiness. "I told you I'd get in. And I told you you'd pay," with that, she punches Dean in the face. "Take them outside. We have a witch to catch,"

As they are dragged outside, she walks inside the library with four other demons.

They're taken to the back of the house, where a few meters ahead, much to their surprise, is a cemetery. Andrea never mentioned this to them. The three of them try to free themselves from the demons, but it's useless.

A moment later, a demon emerges from the house, dragging a bleeding and passed out Andrea out. The sight makes Dean struggle even more, and scream mentally for Cas' help. "Andrea! What have you done to her?" He hisses through the pain of a dislocated jaw.

"We had to break that little spell of hers somehow," the door demon replies, and it's evident she's the one in charge. "Don't worry. She won't die. Not right now, I mean. We have orders to take her back to Lilith alive, but no one said she had to be in one piece. You should have taken the easy way out, Dean Winchester. You should know better than playing around with Lilith, by now," she pauses, coming closer. "You know, your winged pal was right, we can't kill you, but we can have some fun, can't we boys?" She finishes screaming and the horde cheers back.

One of them comes and punches Sam's middle a couple of times, hard enough to make him cough blood.

"Let him go, Tobias," Ruby threatens. "Let him go, or I swear-"

"You swear what, Ruby? You can't do anything but watch us play with your toy boy. Besides, I bet Lilith would love seeing you too. Maybe she'll punish you even better this time around,"

The commotion, along with the pain is enough to bring Andrea through. Opening her eyes, she takes notice of the scene in front of her. Dean, Sam and Ruby are being held captive by demons, while a group watches. There's too many of them. She also sees the blood and the pained looks on the boys' faces. They are hurt. Badly. All because of her. Right then, she decides she won't let them die because of her. Even if it costs her the only thing she always promised herself she would never give up, her freedom.

Slowly, as to not draw attention to her, Andrea moves her left hand to the bleeding wound on her abdomen. She presses her hand there hard, using all of her strength to not scream out at the horrible pain. As blood gathers on her hand, filling her palm, she drops it on the soil. Closing her eyes, she focuses and starts whispering the words she swore to herself she would never say.

_"La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur, mes ancêtres, ta vie me fortifie. Hear me now, in my hour of need. Hear my plea, and answer my prayer. Hear my plea, and I will give myself to you. My life, my soul, and my magic belong to you and without you, I am nothing. La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur, mes ancêtres, ta vie me fortifie. My blood is my offer, freely given," Again, she presses her wound, soaking the ground underneath with her blood. Thinking of her grandmother, and of everything she had done wrong, she adds her own words to the ancient incantation, "I have failed you, but I will no longer fail. With my blood, I bind myself to your strength, your magic and your life. Hear my plea, and let us be as one. Mes ancêtres, ta vie me fortifie,"_

As those final words leave her lips, a wave of energy fills Andrea, and she feels as if something was burning inside of her, consuming her. _When you feel it, it will hurt, but you must embrace the pain_ , her uncle's words echo in her head, and she obeys, embracing the pain, and welcoming it as a part of herself.

All of a sudden, she feels surrounded by a warm feeling, and a choir of voices sound in her head. _Thy offer has been accepted. Welcome, daughter._

The mystical energy released by Andrea's blood ritual doesn't go unnoticed by the demons, but just as they realise what's happening, the witch stands up. The demon by her side moves immediately, but she raises her hand, and he drops to his knees in pain. He screams, until he falls, rendered useless.

Next, Andrea turns to the horde, and raising both of her hands, she speaks in a loud and strong voice, _"In nomine mortis, exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus,"_ suddenly, a chill fills the air, and Andrea's voice starts to sound like the voice of a full crowd, like a multitude of people were talking through her. Her marks start glowing unnaturally and the glow spreads to her whole body as she keeps talking, _"Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii,"_ By now the demons are all writhing in excruciating pain. _"Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo, omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te,"_

All at once, the demons start to smoke out, fully exorcised. Even Ruby is powerless against it. Dean and Sam break free as those holding them fall to the ground, either dead or passed out. When the last body hits the ground, so does Andrea.

And then, there's just Sam and Dean, standing there.

They run to her, and as Dean reaches her first, he moves to touch her neck to check her pulse as she's deadly pale and doesn't appear to be breathing. When he touches her skin, it's almost as if he'd shoved a wrench into a socket. He pulls his hand back.

"Dean?"

"I don't know. It's like her skin gave me an electric shock," he explains. Not giving up, he touches the side of her neck again. This time, nothing happens. Her skin is ice cold, and for a second he fears the worst. However, albeit weak, he feels it. Her pulse. "She's alive, but we need to get her to a hospital right now," He ties his flannel shirt around her, to try and stop the bleeding.

Dean grabs Andrea in his arms, and Sam walks to grab Ruby's body as well, knowing she'll return to it as soon as possible. Quickly, they place Andrea on the back seat, and after some arguing, Ruby's body is placed on the trunk of the Impala. After grabbing everything they can from the house, the boys drive the hell away from it, still unsure of what had just happened.

The first thing they do is put as much distance between them and Salem. They had no time to check if the people who had been possessed were dead or alive, and they didn't need to be connected to a mass murder right now.

Driving out of the state of Massachusetts, the brothers stop at the first hospital they find. As Dean is less injured of the two, it's decided that he'll take Andrea in, while Sam will find a motel room to hide until Ruby finds her away back to her body.

Inside, Dean lies, saying that they had been attacked by thugs while on a walk home. They take Andrea from him and wheel her away.

A nurse comes to check him up as well, and a few hours later his jaw has been put back into place, his other injuries have been treated and he's released with a full prescription for painkillers. He's about to leave the infirmary when a doctor appears at the door. "Mr. Seger?"

Recognizing her as part of the team that had taken Andrea, he goes straight to the point. "How is she, Doc?"

"Your wife has lost a lot of blood, but surprisingly, the knife missed any major organs and no surgery was needed. She's stable, Mr. Seger, but she's still unconscious. We'll be monitoring her closely and I'll let you know if something changes, okay?"

Dean nods. "Thank you, doctor,"

Sam is outside in the Impala when Dean walks out, and inside the car, they figure out how to fill any plot holes that might come up in his story. They call Bobby and the older hunter helps them with getting a fake ID for Andrea as well as fake insurance.

It's already morning when Sam gets a call from Ruby, saying she's back. They drive to the motel room to meet her.

"Where's special needs?" Is the first thing the demon asks upon seeing them.

"She's in the hospital, Ruby," Sam replies, giving her a look. "She lost a lot of blood, but they said she's stable,"

Dean stares at the demon. "What the hell happened back in Salem, Ruby?"

"Baby Sylvester saved our assess," she replies sarcastically. "That's what happened," Dean gives her a look. Sighing, she continues. "Somehow she managed to do the linking ritual. She used the collective magic of her ancestors to exorcise the demons. And let me tell you, that exorcise was no walk in the park,"

"I had never heard that exorcism before," Sam comments.

"I think it's a pagan version. Instead of asking for power from God and from a church, she asked in the name of the dead. Maybe that's why it was so damn strong. Maybe there's some hope for her after all,"

Later, back in the hospital, Dean watches Andrea, and Ruby's words return to him, and he wonders if there's still hope left for any of them.

A strange force pulls Andrea from the deep and blissful darkness that had fallen over her as she finished the spell. Suddenly, she finds herself in the middle of a crazy beautiful green wheat field, that smells like summer and happiness and good things. Just as she realizes where she is, a familiar voice calls her name.

"Andrea," Turning around, she sees no one other than her grandmother.

"Grandmother?" She asks confused and as her grandma nods, fear fills her. "Am I dead?"

"Have you truly forgotten everything I ever taught you?" Agnes questions with a tone that blends anger, annoyance and disappointment. "You're not dead. Your body is simply resting from all the magic you channelled and the blood you've lost, and as it rests, your soul came to roam in the between worlds,"

 _You're not dead_ , the words echo in her head and she sighs in relief. _I'm not dead,_ she repeats to herself.

"Why… How are you here, grandma?"

Agnes shakes her head. "I'm here thanks to the same magic that brought you here. The same magic that saved you from death," she pauses, taking a step closer. "As for why, I'm here because you forgot who you are, girl,"

Andrea has to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the lecture. She should have seen it coming, actually. "Grandma, I-"

"Shh," Agnes tells her, raising a hand. "Do not interrupt me. I don't know how long we have, so you're going to sit and listen to what I have to say. Something is coming. Something big. And you can't run anymore."

Knowing better than to argue, Andrea silently follows her grandmother.

When Andrea comes to, she's in a hospital bed and three days have passed. She's feeling strange, restless, like waking up from a night of endless dreaming. It's weird because even though she doesn't know where she is, she remembers exactly how she got here and what happened while she was out of it.

A nice nurse fills her in on what happened, how she and her husband had been attacked. The nurse also told her that her husband had been quite brave through everything. Saving her questions for later, Andrea nods and smiles.

Dean arrives at the hospital to find her awake, talking to a nurse.

"Ah, there he is," the nurse says with a smile. "You are very lucky to have a man that worries so much and takes such good care of you, dear,"

Andrea looks from the nurse to Dean, not missing the expression on his face. "I know," she replies, not saying much.

When the nurse finally leaves them, Dean sits by her side. "Sorry. I had to tell them we were related 'cause otherwise they wouldn't give us any information on how you were,"

"Don't worry, Dean,"

"How are you?" He asks after a second.

Andrea can't help but smile at his concern. She isn't fine, but she takes the easy answer. "Right now, I feel like I'm floating because of whatever it is that they gave me, but when I woke up it hurt like a motherfucker,"

Dean laughs at her words. "Been there before. You should enjoy the painkillers bliss while it lasts,"

"The doctor said they were going to do a few more tests, and if everything goes well, I can leave in the morning,"

"Great. Can't wait to get the hell out of here. Bobby's waiting for us back in Sioux Falls," Andrea just nods, the medication starts making it difficult for her to form a coherent line of thought. "Also, we need to talk about what happened,"

"Can we talk later?" She asks with a yawn, and Dean agrees.

"Get some sleep, Andy,"

"Andy?" She asks, looking at him with tired eyes.

"One of the nurses called you that. Besides, your name's too, uh, big. It's about time we get you a nickname, if you don't mind, of course,"

"Nah, I like it," she replies, yawning again.

"I'll leave you to it," Just as he stands up, he sees the nurse on the corridor, smiling at him. Wanting to keep their story, Dean presses a kiss on Andrea's forehead, and walks out, closing the door behind him.

Once Andrea's discharged, the boys drive straight to South Dakota. The journey takes longer than usual, as Dean's mindful of the recovering girl in the backseat. Andrea spends most of it sleeping, and when she's not sleeping, she just lies there, lost in her thoughts.

Arriving at Bobby's, Sam helps her out of the car to the front door.

"You a'right girl?" The older hunter asks upon seeing her.

Andrea offers him a small smile. "Yeah, just sore and sleepy,"

"You think you can make it upstairs? I set one of the guest rooms up for you,"

"I can try," she replies.

"I'll help you," Sam says, supporting her the whole way to the bed Bobby prepared.

"Thank you, Bobby," Andrea says as he helps her with pulling the covers up.

"Don't mention it. Call if you need anything,"

Sam and Bobby meet Dean downstairs, having just finished bringing their things inside.

"How is she? Really?" Bobby asks Dean.

"The doctor said she'll be fine. Due to the blood loss and the stitches, they just said she needs to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. Where her magic is concerned, I have no idea," Pausing, Dean grabs her backpack. "I'm gonna take this upstairs," Not wanting to wake her up, he doesn't knock, but upon entering, he finds Andrea awake, staring at the window. "Sorry, I'd have knocked, but I thought you'd be asleep,"

"Don't worry," when she doesn't say anything else, the same thoughtful expression returning to her face, he knows something is wrong.

"Are you alright?"

No, she thinks to herself. "Yeah, I'm just… tired, I guess,"

Not sure of what to say, he just sets her bag near the bed. "I'm gonna let you rest,"

When Andrea sleeps most of the next day, no one worries, as it would be expected that she needed rest after everything. However, when she doesn't appear on the second day, the hunters start to worry.

Andrea is stuck in her thoughts when a knock sounds on the door.

"Come in," she replies, carefully pulling herself to a sitting position.

Dean enters the room with a mug in his hand. "I thought you'd like some coffee," he says, walking in and handing it to her.

"Coffee is always nice," she replies, taking the mug. "Thank you,"

Dean watches her for a moment, before speaking again. "I know it's really annoying when people ask this, and I know I asked before, but are you okay?"

She could lie. In fact, she should lie and tell him that everything's fine and that she's just tired, but at that particular moment, she's tired of always being alone, so Andrea shakes her head no. "I… I guess after everything, seeing Ellis and my grandmother was just too much," she says in a small voice.

"Your grandmother?" Dean asks, confused. "I thought you'd only, uh, talked to your, uh, friend,"

"Her spirit came to me while I was unconscious," she pauses as a chill runs down her back. "The linking ritual made it possible, and she was never one to miss an opportunity for a lecture," she tries to lighten up the mood, but it doesn't work.

"Wasn't she at least happy to see you?" Dean asks even though this entire conversation is too weird for him.

"We never really got along. I never wanted the life she lived and all she saw when she looked at me was wasted potential. And as if that wasn't enough when grandma died, she'd been sick for some time and she sent me a note asking me to come home because she wanted to talk to me before she died. I thought she was just pressuring me to go, using her illness and possible death as an excuse, so I didn't reply and I didn't go. She died two days later, and we hadn't talked in over a year. As you can imagine, she had a lot to say when she saw me," she pauses, taking a sip from the coffee to swallow the knot that had formed in her throat. "You must think I'm a terrible person. I mean, what kind of person doesn't attend a request from a dying woman?"

Andrea's words allowed Dean to see a whole new side of her. With what she'd told them back in Salem, and this, he could see she wasn't the person he initially thought she was, so he tells her what he thinks.

"Look, you're not a bad person, Andy. I don't really know what went down between you and your grandma, but I do know family is complicated. You made a mistake and so did she, but in the end, I don't doubt that she loved you and forgave you for what happened,"

For a brief moment, Andrea wishes she could bring herself to believe in his words. "She didn't forgive me, Dean. In her eyes, there's no forgiveness for what I did when I turned away from my family and from what we are. I thought that me doing that fucking ritual would change something, but it didn't," when tears start forming in her eyes, Andrea looks away, and runs a hand over her face. "Anyways, I appreciate you coming here and listening to all of my rambles, but there's no point in talking about it. What's done is done, and I just have to live with it,"

"Alright," he says, not pushing further. There's more he wants to ask her, but he leaves it for now. "I'm not very good at this talking stuff, this is usually Sam's thing, but if you ever need to talk, let me know,"

While she's not usually one for sharing and talking like this, Dean's offer means a lot to her. "Thank you, Dean,"

He waves her off. "Don't worry. Uh, Sam went out to buy beer and pizza, if you want to go downstairs?"

"Beer and pizza sound really nice," Andrea replies, letting him help her up and out of the room.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to leave kudos and/or a comment.


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